Missing baby and stolen car recovered thanks to Twitter

Some people choose to use Twitter to spread destructive rumors and nasty haterade, but others use the microblogging site to save the day. In Dubai, for instance, a collaborative effort among thousands of Twitter users enabled law enforcement to rescue a baby napping inside a car when it was stolen.

According to reports, the baby's parents left her inside a Toyota Prado while they made a quick stop at a shop. One can assume they didn't intend to stay long as they left the car's engines running, but it only took a few seconds for the thief to steal the car with the baby still sleeping inside.

Dubai's police force published a Twitter alert for the missing baby, and it was retweeted roughly 1,700 times within a few minutes. The car and the baby — who was thankfully unharmed — were recovered seven hours later, a few kilometers from where they were stolen. The police credited Twitter for the successful rescue mission.

This is not the first time Twitter users pulled together to save people's lives: A carjacking victim was rescued in South Africa, a wounded triathlete was able to ask for medical help, and an African village chief caught burglars red-handed with the help of the social network.

[Image credit: Twitter via Shutterstock]

This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca

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