A baby girl abandoned in a suitcase near a hotel in Hamburg was stored in the luggage room after staff failed to recognise the contents of the luggage.

The one-day-old baby was in a sweater, wrapped in a sleeping bag, zipped into a suitcase according to police in Germany.

Pictured: Hamburg is a popular tourist destination in the north of Germany

However, a porter, once alerted by a passer by to the unattended luggage, only partially opened to the black suitcase, seeing only clothes.

Only later, when whimpering was heard coming from the bag, was the baby discovered.

A search for her mother has now been launched.

In an interview with the Associated Press police spokeswoman, Karina Sadowsky, said: “We have been in contact with the passer-by who found the baby, but he could not provide any further information that would have led us to the mother

“We’re still asking people in Hamburg to come forward and contact us if they have any knowledge about the case.”

Homicide

Hamburg police confirmed a homicide squad would investigate the tragic case as the baby had been abandoned and could have easily died.

The healthy baby was taken to the Altona Pediatric Hospital and doctors said she was healthy, if underweight at only 4.85 pounds.

“The child could have easily suffocated or — even though it was well-dressed — frozen to death,” Axel von Wense, the head of the hospital’s newborn ward, told Bild in Germany.