New York baby abandoned at subway station

A young woman has been taken into police custody after abandoning her baby on a crowded subway platform in the heart of New York, police said today.

The little girl, aged six or seven months, was left in a stroller at the Columbus Circle station, one of Manhattan's busiest, yesterday.

The 20-year-old woman pushed the stroller onto the platform when the doors of the train she was on slid open -- but did not get off herself.

Police launched an appeal for witnesses and broadcast close-circuit footage showing both the woman and the child.

"We had someone notify us about her whereabouts and who she was," a police spokesman told AFP.
 

The woman is expected to be charged yesterday, he added.

The baby is in good health and has been handed over to child protection services.