The dead baby found in a rubbish bag between plants close to Rotterdam’s Luxor theatre was of Asian origin, police told television crime show Opsporing Verzocht.

The bag had been left in a flower pot on the Antoine Platekade in Rotterdam Zuid, near the theatre and the law courts at the beginning of August.

Police say it appears that the mother gave birth without professional help but the baby had been dead since around July 24. It was found on August 3.

One option is that the mother worked on board a cruise ship and police have been handing out leaflets asking for information at the nearby cruise terminal.