A man was arrested in Hatay Province of Turkey at the time when was trying to steal a baby from a hospital, taking advantage of the chaos that has been caused after the deadly earthquake that has devastated the southern part of the country, Turkish media reported today.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6thdevastated the province, near the border with Syria, and killed more than 40,000 people in Turkey and Syria.

THE 55 year old manwho went to Hatay from Ankara, appeared at the reception of a private hospital in the city of Samandag, where stated that he is a former police officer and asked to be given a baby, whose name he mentioned, Anadolu Agency reported.

In a 20-second video released by the Turkish agency, a man in a dark shirt, visibly upset, can be seen asking for the baby to be given to him, before shouts are heard and he points alarm.

The man was arrested while the police found several fake IDs and a significant amount of money on him: 53,000 Turkish Liras, about 2,600 euros. The suspect also had a gun “with two magazines and 42 bullets” in his car, according to NTV television.

The Turkish Family Ministry announced yesterday that 1,396 unaccompanied children have been registered in the earthquake affected areas. Of these, 508 have been handed over to their families