21-Month-Old Baby Found Alive In Ravine After Spending 2 Nights Alone In Woods

A 21-month-old baby, who went missing Monday night from his home in Italy, was found at the bottom of a ravine by a journalist.

The child had disappeared from his bedroom in Palazzuolo sul Senio, a town north-east of Florence. The boy, identified as Nicola Tanturli, was found when the TV journalist heard his cries as he went to the ravine to report the disappearance of the child. The child had a bump on his head and some scratches, but was otherwise unharmed, according to Italy24News.

The authorities said the child had wandered away from his home in the Apennine mountains sometime during the night on Monday. After his parents noticed he was missing, a search was conducted by up to 1,000 emergency personnel, volunteers and the police.

Journalist Giuseppe Di Tommaso, a reporter with Italian broadcaster Rai, was on his way to Tanturli’s home when he heard some cries coming from a gorge by a road. Tommaso called out the boy's name and heard the reply of "Mum!"

“As soon as he saw us he started to cry,” the reporter said, according to Yahoo News Australia.

He said he could see the child on the other side in a hard-to-reach area thick with thorny brush.

“An immense emotion because I really didn’t imagine it, when they tell each other the stories of children after so many hours, in such thick woods, after a whole night there is always the idea that it will not be a story with a positive ending,” Tommaso said, Itlay24News reported.

Carabinieri commander Danilo Ciccarelli said he could not believe the child spent the night where he was found. "It was a tremendous joy to bring him back to his mother's arms," Ciccarelli said.

The child was taken to a nearby hospital via helicopter.

Mayor Gian Piero Philip Moschetti said during a news conference the child was very active and lively.

“He could walk for a kilometer (half a mile) an hour. We have no idea how much distance he could have covered. He was used to going out of the house and living outdoors," he said, according to ABC News.