A man and a woman have been arrested after two children, both aged under five, who were discovered crying and alone by the side of a road in Portugal
A man and woman have been arrested after two children were found crying and alone by the side of a road in southern Portugal.
Local media reports the couple were the mother and stepfather of the two French boys. The children, both aged under five, were discovered by a driver near the southern Portuguese town of Alcacer do Sal on Tuesday, police said.
The youngsters were carrying backpacks when they were found, which contained food and water, but they had no identity documents.
The pair were reported missing by their father from their home in Colmar in eastern France on May 11, leading to a pan-European request for help being issued by French authorities.
READ MORE: Albino buffalo called Donald Trump for uncanny resemblance set to be sacrificedREAD MORE: Morrisons set to close 100 stores across UK with ‘hundreds of jobs at risk’
Police in both Portugal and France are investigating how the boys ended up beside the road, but so far they have not reached any conclusions.
The couple were arrested after local police swooped when their car was spotted outside a café in the city of Fatima, about 180km (112miles) north of Alcacer do Sal where the boys were found.
A 41-year-old woman and man aged 55 were being held, Portugal’s National Republican Guard said. The arrested pair have not been formally identified by authorities.
They said the couple were being investigated for the crimes of domestic violence, exposure to danger, and abandonment.
The driver who first came across the two boys has said he fed them before alerting the police.
