A 41-year-old woman and her companion were arrested Thursday in Fatima. They are suspected of abandoning their two French sons aged four and five by a road in southern Portugal.
The two boys were found Tuesday evening on national road 253 near Alcácer do Sal. A passing motorist took them to a local bakery where they received help.
The mother, who lived in Colmar, had disappeared with the children about ten days earlier. The father reported their absence and filed a complaint for child abduction.
Portuguese authorities opened proceedings for maltreatment, endangerment and abandonment. The children, examined at Setúbal hospital, are safe and have been placed in child protection.
