A couple left their newborn baby in a taxi as they brought the child home from hospital for the first time.
The parents got out of the vehicle with their eldest child, aged one, but forgot to remove their baby from the back seat.
They were returning to their home in Hamburg when the incident took place.
Hamburg Police said in a Facebook post that the couple had paid the driver and said goodbye before realising what they had done.
The father reportedly ran after the taxi but the vehicle drove away too quickly.
The parents immediately alerted the police.
The baby apparently made no sound so the taxi driver did not realise the child was in the back for some time.
Hamburg Police said: “The baby initially made no sound and probably enjoyed sleeping, but the taxi driver knew nothing of his silent passenger in the back seat and headed directly to a well-deserved lunch break, for which he parked the taxi in an underground car park.
"After some time, he returned hopefully well-fed, sat in his taxi and went in the hope of collecting new passengers from the airport.
“However, the new passenger was a bit confused about the already present passengers and made the taxi driver aware of this "carpool".
“Now was the time when the baby obviously woke up, because it was noticeable and began to scream.”
The driver reportedly called the police to report the discovery.
The baby was examined by an ambulance crew before it was reunited with the family.
