Mother arrested after young French boys abandoned in Portugal

The boys, aged 4 and 5, were rescued by a passing motorist who found them alone and crying near the resort town of Comporta

Portuguese police on Thursday arrested the mother of two young French boys found abandoned by a main road in the south of the country, alone and crying.

The boys, aged four and five, were rescued on Tuesday by a passing motorist near the resort town of Comporta, where they had been left with backpacks containing food and water but no identity documents, according to Portuguese media.

A manhunt was launched for the boys’ mother, 41, and on Thursday Portuguese police said they had arrested her in the central town of Fatima, along with a 55-year-old man, on suspicion of abuse, endangerment and abandonment.

The boys were reported missing from their hometown of Colmar, in eastern France, by their father around 10 days ago.

After finding the children, motorist Alexandre Quintas took them to a bakery run by his family before alerting the authorities.

“We asked them if they liked ice cream,” Quintas told the online outlet Observador.

“And we gave them something to eat and some toys to keep them occupied.”