Airport staff in Mauritius found a newborn baby boy abandoned in the trash bin of a plane's toilet by a woman passenger on the flight, according to a BBC report.

The Air Mauritius plane, which arrived from Madagascar, landed at the airport in Mauritius on January 1 .

Airport officers found the baby wrapped in blood-soaked toilet paper when they were examining the plane for a routine customs check. They rushed the baby to a public hospital for treatment and he is recovering well.

A 20-year-old woman from Madagascar, suspected of having given birth on the flight has been arrested.

The woman, who initially denied the boy was hers, was made to undergo a medical examination which confirmed that she had just given birth to a child.

Both the mother and baby are reported to be doing well.

The Malagasy woman, who arrived in Mauritius on a two-year work permit, will be questioned after her release from the hospital and charged with abandoning the newborn, the BBC report added.