The suspects charged with murder at a Bronx daycare centre after several children were exposed to opioids are believed to be mid-level drug distributors, a US federal law enforcement source said.

Grei Mendez, 36, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, face federal and state charges in connection with the suspected overdoses at Divino Niño daycare.

They were arrested Saturday, a day after one-year-old Nicholas Dominici died after suspected fentanyl exposure. Two two-year-old boys and an eight-month-old girl were also exposed to the suspected fentanyl and suffered acute opioid intoxication.

READ MORE: Kane hopped into his mate's car and his life changed forever

According to court documents, Mendez is the owner and operator of the daycare, and Brito is her husband's cousin and a tenant who lives in a bedroom within the daycare.

Investigators are also looking for a third male suspect who has not been publicly named.

Another law enforcement official told CNN the third suspect is believed to be Mendez's husband.

Authorities have recovered video of that man leaving the centre carrying plastic bags that appeared to contain three large square items, which investigators suspect were remaining kilos of fentanyl, that official said.

Authorities believe he has not left the country and is still in the Northeast, the federal law enforcement official added.

Investigators believe the suspects were mid-level drug distributors tasked with cutting fentanyl with other drugs or even household items like baby powder, the first federal law enforcement official said.

They then gave the pressed product to others, who got it into the hands of street sellers, the official said.

None of the suspects was previously on law enforcement's radar, the official said.

Mendez and Brito face state charges of murder, manslaughter, assault, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a controlled substance, court documents show.

They were arraigned and remanded without bail Sunday night.

They also face federal charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death.

If convicted on the federal charges, the defendants could be sentenced to up to life in prison.

Mendez's defence attorney, Andres Manuel Aranda, told CNN his client plans to fight the charges.

"We feel that she doesn't have… anything (to do) with this case besides taking care of the kids," Aranda said.

"She has no previous knowledge of any contraband in the apartment. None whatsoever."

READ MORE: Fears for Melbourne girl missing not seen since July

Mendez "feels horrible about what happened" and was the one who called the police and ambulance, her attorney said.

CNN has reached out to Brito's attorney for comment.

Children napped near a kilo of fentanyl, police say

A kilogram of fentanyl was discovered in an area where children napped at the Bronx day care centre Friday, said Joseph Kenny, the New York Police Department's chief of detectives.

Officials also found three kilogram press devices – two inside the hallway closet, and one inside Brito's bedroom.

The fentanyl was "laying underneath a mat where children had been sleeping earlier," Kenny said.

"The residue itself … it's that strong," Kenny said.

"One grain, two grains of fentanyl can take down a grown man. So even the residue itself for a small child, would cause the death."

The investigation turns international

Authorities believe the fentanyl at the daycare centre came from international drug cartels, a federal law enforcement official said.

About 90 per cent of the fentanyl distributed in New York comes from either the infamous Sinaloa Cartel or the Jalisco New Generation Cartel – one of which is believed to be the source of the fentanyl that killed the one-year-old boy last Friday, the official said.

Because of the international ties, federal law enforcement agencies – such as Customs and Border Protection – along with Drug Enforcement Administration officials in the Dominican Republic are also involved in the search for the third suspect.

Drug overdose deaths reached a record level in the US this spring.

Recent data from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows more than 111,000 people died from a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending in April.

And research shows opioid-related deaths among children have increased significantly, mirroring trends among adults.

A surge starting in 2018 led to a nearly threefold increase in deaths among older adolescents and a nearly sixfold increase among children younger than five.

In 2021, 40 infants and 93 children ages one to four died from an overdose of the powerful opioid fentanyl.

Although deaths among teens are typically related to drug use, deaths among younger children are believed to be related to drugs left within reach.

In another recent case, authorities executed a search warrant on a fentanyl operation in Queens where a 10-year-old child was found sleeping on the premises, New York police said Wednesday.

Investigators recovered three kilograms of heroin and fentanyl, six kilogram presses, an AK-47 and three pistols during the search Wednesday, police said.

Authorities said the child was sleeping near the equipment.

A truck carrying white wine from South Australia's Barossa caught alight while driving along the highway overnight.

Five fire crews with 25 firefighters rushed to the Dukes Highway outside Cooke Plains after the B-double truck caught ablaze.

The driver of the truck had safely gotten out of the car and detached the prime mover while flames incinerated the trailers – and the contents.

READ MORE: Kane hopped in a mate's car and his life changed forever

"Fire cause is believed to be a mechanical fault in one of the trailers which were both significantly impacted with damaged costs estimated at $400,000," Country Fire Service said in a statement.

A man has been charged with murder after another man was stabbed to death in Adelaide's north.

Emergency services were called to Salisbury Downs about 6.45pm yesterday to find Jordan Torrans seriously injured after he was stabbed by a man known to him.

Paramedics tried to save the 31-year-old but he died at the scene.

READ MORE: Kane hopped in a mate's car and his life changed forever

A 30-year-old man was found by police nearby and was arrested.

He has been charged with murder.

The man will face court today.

Workers at an Aussie poultry giant are planning to walk off the job over a pay dispute, which could potentially put chook supplies at supermarkets and fast food chains at risk.

More than 1000 Inghams workers – who are United Workers Union (UWU) members – are planning to stop work for 24 hours tomorrow unless the company agrees to a 6 per cent per year pay rise for employees over the next three years.

The increase would equate to a $1.50 per hour pay rise for workers.

READ MORE: Kane hopped in a mate's car and his life changed forever

The strike action is planned for factories in South Australia and Western Australia.

Inghams supplies major supermarket retailers including Coles, Woolworths and Aldi as well as fast food outlets KFC and McDonald's.

National UWU secretary Tim Kennedy told 2GB's James Willis there is a risk there will be shortages of chicken this weekend.

"If we don't reach an agreement with Inghams and they don't listen to their workers and continue to refuse to acknowledge the contribution those workers have made to these enormous profits, the poultry won't be processed and there will be shortages of chicken," he said.

Kennedy said Inghams raked in a $60.4 million profit in the last financial year while workers had not seen wage increases in "some time".

"Our workers are telling us they have got to think twice pushing that trolley up and down the supermarket aisles," he said, saying a six per cent pay increase was not much compared to the increased cost of living.

READ MORE: Appeal for help over girl missing since July

https://omny.fm/shows/the-drive-program/inghams-workers-demand-18-pay-increase-as-they-hea/embed?style=cover

Kennedy warned, "If you want KFC this weekend for the footy finals, I wouldn't be banking on it".

KFC declined to comment when contacted by 9news.com.au regarding the potential shortages.

"We work with a range of poultry suppliers, and so don't expect there will be any impact on availability for Coles customers," a Coles spokesperson said.

Woolworths and Aldi both have both said they do not believe there will be a noticeable impact on customers.

McDonald's has not responded to a request for comment.

Temu, a new online shopping platform which has links to China, has quickly become the most downloaded app in Australia.

There's good reason Temu has spread like wildfire.

It sells pretty much everything at perplexingly low prices; it has a slew of weird and wacky items that will draw a guffawing crowd around anyone's office desk; and it feels like, no matter where you turn right now, Temu is on every street corner of the internet.

READ MORE: Online shopping giant wants 1000 workers for Christmas rush

Some say Temu's business model, with products mostly shipped directly from a vast network of Chinese factories, all hawked with an arsenal of slick marketing and social media strategies, may change the way retailers operate online.

However, much like Chinese-owned TikTok, which has become a serious threat to Facebook and other multi-billion-dollar Silicon Valley success stories, Temu's rapid rise and penetration into Western markets has raised questions.

Some cyber experts express concerns over security and data sharing, while users have a more simple question: is Temu legitimate?

What is Temu?

Temu is an online retailer.

It is based in Boston in the US, but shares the same owner as Chinese social commerce giant Pinduoduo. Investigations into Pinduoduo have highlighted concerns about users' online security.

Temu was not implicated, but its links to Pinduoduo make some privacy and safety experts uncomfortable.

What does it sell?

Everything. Like, seriously. Some call it China's digital flea market to the world. Others claim it may threaten Amazon and eBay.

Temu's marketplace covers the gamut from home goods to clothing to toys and electronics. There's full protective face shields going for 81 cents, car cleaning gel at 25 cents, exfoliating foot slippers just $1.49 and anti-bunion contraptions costing $2.49. If you can think it up, it's there.

Temu has similarities to fellow budget online retailers like Shein, AliExpress and Wish, but somehow it's even cheaper.

What's different about it?

Quite a lot. But the first thing you'll notice are, ta-da, the prices. Products are cheap.

So cheap, in fact, that it's made some people wonder if Temu is real. How can Temu can sell goods at such strikingly low prices, they ask?

READ MORE: Vegan baking chocolate recalled after milk found

So, is it a scam?

No.

"My gut feeling is no," Paul Haskell-Dowland, a cybersecurity expert at Perth's Edith Cowan University says.

He tells 9news.com.au that if you place an order with Temu then the weight of evidence online suggests that it's going to end up in your mailbox.

But Haskell-Dowland cautions the adage "you get what you pay for" applies.

"People should bear in mind there's a reason it's cheap."

Are there red flags?

There's nothing about online chatter around Temu that can't be rationally explained, Haskell-Dowland says, such as missing packages or delivery delays.

But because of Temu's popularity, fake versions of the app with malicious software are circulating, he said, so people should only ever download the app from official Apple or Android app stores.

And as for the data Temu is collecting?

"Yes, it's broad," Haskell-Dowland says.

"Yes, it contains information about your purchasing habits, potentially the devices that you're using, and possibly other things that we don't yet know about."

But, he says, that's really no different to any ecommerce app on your mobile, be it a Silicon Valley giant or Chinese-owned company.

READ MORE: Australia's cheapest supermarket revealed

Is Temu really giving away free items?

It's true. Temu does run campaigns where users can build credits they can then spend on the platform, essentially buying for free.

These campaigns ask users to promote Temu on their socials or encourage family and friends to create an account. Credits can also be earned in spin-the-wheel games which appear on the site.

Dr Shasha Wang, a marketing lecturer at QUT's business school, says Temu's marketing strategies can be "addictive" and "effective".

What is the secret to Temu's marketing success?

Users are besieged with lightning deals and eye-catching limited time offers.

These tactics, Wang says, "really appeal to people's sense of missing out", especially in tandem with rock-bottom prices. Gamification, such as spin-the-wheel reward games, are a very clever tool, she adds.

Another key factor is timing. Wang says Temu's launch during a cost of living crisis and rising global inflation was fortunate. "The value people are finding found on Temu is really appealing," she says.

Big discounts, free shipping and loyalty programs also reel in users, who see products curated by Artificial Intelligence based on user interests and displaying items most likely to secure a sale.

Is it too good to be true?

Based on his analysis, Haskell-Dowland says it's not uncommon for Temu's most attractive deals to disappear if you try to buy more than one of the same item or pick up your first haul.

That makes sense, from Temu's perspective, Wang says. Getting people to make that first purchase is key, she explains. "Once people start, they will often keep using it."

Temu's catchphrase is to "shop like a billionaire". So everything it does is geared towards making you feel like you're getting a lot of items for splurging very little cash.

But watch this space. Temu's bargain prices may not last.

Some pundits think Temu is, for now, content to incur some losses while it tries to hoover up bargain hunters and market share, in a bid to take on Amazon and other ecommerce retailers.

Temu did not respond to 9news.com.au's request for comment.

A British national and another person have been killed and nine people were seriously injured in Montenegro when a bus plunged into a ravine, authorities said.

The bus was carrying some 30 passengers when it swerved on a steep road around noon on Tuesday local time, police said.

Local media reported that the bus was travelling on a road connecting the town of Budva, on the Adriatic Sea coast, with Cetinje, which is located in a mountainous inland area.

READ MORE: Victorian tradie Kane hopped in a mate's car and his life changed forever

“I was listening to music and all was normal. Then all of sudden there were screams and the sound of glass breaking,” one of the passengers told the state RTCG radio.

It was not immediately clear what caused the bus to skid down some 15 metres into the ravine. Photos from the scene showed rescue workers holding on to a metal wire to try to reach the wreckage.

Doctors said nine people have been seriously injured, including one in life-threatening condition.

READ MORE: Appeal for help over girl missing since July

Prosecutor Andjela Radovanovic told reporters that the two people killed were a British national and an unidentified woman.

Police said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the two victims died on the spot while the injured received aid in Cetinje. The seriously injured were later transferred to a hospital in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica.

There were double takes from passing drivers as Lenard Phillips' 15-tonne armoured personnel carrier was delivered to his door in suburban Auckland.

The 68-year-old has been waiting three years to get it back since police officers came to the Ōrākei pensioner's state house and took the FV432 as part of an asset seizure under the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery) Act, after the previous owner got into trouble with the law.

"It's good to see her back home," he said as the vehicle was rolled on to his front yard on Wednesday afternoon.

READ MORE: Victorian tradie Kane hopped in a mate's car and his life changed forever

It has been an uphill battle for the former military man to get the vehicle back, and after all the ups and downs, he said he found himself less excited than he thought he would have been.

He and his lawyer Dr Richard Keam have been jumping through hoops for the last three years in order to get the vehicle back and, in early August, Phillips finally got the news from his lawyer he'd been waiting to hear.

Keam told him the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) – which was storing the vehicle as the official assignee – would be handing the tank back after they reached an agreement in the courts.

But MBIE have more than once pushed the delivery date back during the last six weeks, citing a number of excuses, Keam said – including last Saturday when, only after the delivery time passed, was Phillips told those tasked with driving it were having trouble keeping it running.

"They said they would crane it in," Phillips said. "But I told them it was running when they took it, so I want it back in the same condition."

Then on Wednesday afternoon – only hours after Stuff enquired about the delays – the pensioner got a call telling him the tank would be on his front lawn within the hour.

It was a reasonably secretive affair – as much as an armoured vehicle rolling down a street can be – with the driver of the tank and the MBIE staff asking not to be filmed as they are involved with repossessing items from criminals.

But Phillips was just happy to see it back on his lawn and running, and soon enough had two of his mokopuna looking on in awe.

"One wasn't even born and this other one was just in a pram when they came and took it away, so it's good they can see it now," he said.

Phillips told Stuff previously that he was sick of waiting for the APC's return, and that it shouldn't have been taken in the first place.

"It should have been back long ago," he said.

"They were quick to come and take it… and now it's been passed through a court of law that it does belong to me, so why don't they bring it back as quick as they took it."

The FV432 was gifted to him in lieu of payment for catering a wedding of more than 1000 people with a hāngī.

The previous owner had bought the vehicle from a closing paintball facility as part of a combo with a Hummer. For a time, it was stored at Phillips' house and after an abandoned attempt to raffle it off, the APC was eventually given to the pensioner, who had no objections.

He had begun to lose hope he'd ever see it again, but now that it's back he plans to bring it back to working condition.

It doesn't have a warrant of fitness, nor is it registered to drive on the road, but Phillips has already enquired about getting it roadworthy.

"It means a lot to me, you know," he said.

"No one else has one."

This article originally appeared on Stuff and is republished here with permission.

Kane Valentine's world changed in an instant on Good Friday last year. 

On that day, Kane was 18 years old, in his first year of a carpentry apprenticeship and life was full of promise.

It was late morning in Victoria's Cape Paterson, the tiny coastal town south-east of Melbourne where Kane lives.

READ MORE: City on verge of record-breaking heatwave

He and his older brother, Kyle, had hopped into a mate's new car.

Kane says he trusted their friend to drive safely, but the driver is alleged to have been speeding when he overtook another car on Cape Paterson Road and lost control of the vehicle.

Witnesses to the horrific accident say they saw the car skidding along on its side before the front of the vehicle dug into the road.

The car "pirouetted like a ballerina" and landed on its roof.

Kane's mother, Louise Valentine, was sitting at home when she got the call.

"It was horrible, because when they said there's been an accident, I heard somebody scream out, 'Is he breathing?'" she said. 

"And in my heart, I just knew that it was one of my kids. I had two of them in the car and I thought, 'Oh my god, it's one of them'."

Louise rushed out of the door and drove to the site of the crash, which was just five minutes from the family home.

She arrived just after the police and before the paramedics.

Kane had been seated behind the driver on the right-hand side of the car, the same side which scraped along the road in the accident. 

While all of the other teenagers travelling in the car were largely unscathed, Kane was fighting for his life.

Paramedics put Kane into a coma on the roadside and got him ready to be airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

"They said to us, we'll let you say goodbye here because he may not make it," Louise said. 

At the hospital, doctors operated on Kane for hours. 

"They let my husband and I see him for a couple of minutes, and then they took us off into this little dingy room," Louise said.

"We call it the death room, because that's basically what they're preparing you for.

"They said if he wakes up, he will most probably be brain dead." 

Kane was in a coma for almost two weeks.

On the day Kane woke up, it was his brother Kyle's 21st birthday, and the family had taken a short break from their hospital vigil to spend the previous night at home.

When Louise rang the hospital the next morning, she was put through to the nurse by Kane's bedside.

"She said, 'Kane is responding well.'

"And I was like, 'I'm sorry, pardon?' 

"She said, 'We've started to wake him and when we tell him to squeeze our fingers he's doing it. He has also wriggled his toes and opened his eyes.' 

"There were tears all around. We all packed and went straight back to the hospital.

"It was the perfect 21st birthday present for Kyle."

Kane would go on to spend the next three months in hospital, undergoing 20 surgeries.

"My head and arm were scraped along the ground when the car was spinning on its roof," Kane said.

"It was like getting a piece of chalk and dragging it. From my elbow down, I only have a third of the bones left.

"My arm is completely destroyed."

Surgeons used 3D-printed hardened plastic to close the gap in Kane's skull and reform his eye socket.

He was fitted with a ceramic glass eye.

Kane, who is now 20, said it had been an arduous and long road to recovery over the past 18 months.

"I broke my jaw and so I had to learn how to open my mouth again," he said. 

"In the beginning, they had to pry my mouth open.

"I had to learn how to talk, eat and walk again."

In a small town where everyone knows each other, the accident has had devastating consequences.

The driver of the car is facing criminal charges over the accident in an ongoing case before the Magistrates' Court. 

Kane said it was frustrating to see his friends moving on with their lives while he was stuck in rehab.

"I have missed out on so much of my life with friends. They will be qualified chippies soon," he said. 

"The driver wasn't injured.

"He was still living his life while I was trying to learn how to eat and talk again."

Kane said he wanted to share his story to raise awareness about the consequences of serious road accidents.

"You're not invincible and injuries can and do happen – you could hurt not just yourself, you could hurt someone else," he said.

"Even when you first get your Ps, anything can happen. 

"You're better off driving safe or not at all." 

Lousie said she had been living every parent's worst nightmare.

"You see this on the news – you never think it will happen to you," she said.

Louise said one thing she was grateful for was that Kane's medical expenses have all been covered through the state's third-party insurance scheme run by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC).

"Even as an adult, I didn't realise the extent of what TAC did," Louise said. 

"When I would see the TAC charge on my rego, I would think, 'Bloody TAC.'

"I thought it was money going toward roads and things like that. 

"But every medical bill has been covered, and all of Kane's medication.

"They even covered our accommodation and travel because we live so far from the hospital. 

"When your child's laying there in a God-awful position, your mind does go to, how are we going to pay for this?"

Slater and Gordon lawyer Joanne Burns, who lodged Kane's personal injury claim with TAC, said it was one of the worst cases she had dealt with in terms of injuries to a person so young.

"This is something that is going to affect him for the rest of his life," Burns said.

"Kane had his whole life ahead of him and he was just starting his apprenticeship. It's one of those cases that really gets to you."

The TAC scheme operates under a no-fault system and covers the cost of medical treatment and loss of future income for people injured in road accidents.

Drivers and passengers who were not at fault can also make a claim for pain and suffering.

Because of the severity of his injuries, Burns said she was able to fast-track Kane's claim for a pain and suffering lump sum payout through the TAC, for which he received the maximum statutory amount.

Do you have a story? Contact reporter Emily McPherson at em********@******om.au

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has issued a stark warning as he gathered world leaders for a high-level summit on the climate crisis: "Humanity has opened the gates to hell."

The Climate Ambition Summit – which comes as the the world grapples with devastating floods and fires – is intended to build global momentum toward slashing planet-heating pollution ahead of the UN's COP28 climate summit in Dubai in December.

"Horrendous heat is having horrendous effects. Distraught farmers watching crops carried away by floods. Sweltering temperatures spawning disease," Guterres said in a speech to open the one-day conference, happening alongside the UN General Assembly in New York.

READ MORE: 'Terrifying': Mum's car stolen with baby inside

"Climate action is dwarfed by the scale of the challenge," he added, warning that if nothing changes we are heading "towards a dangerous and unstable world."

Wednesday's summit is unusual due to Guterres' decision to restrict the speaker list to countries he deemed to have clear and effective climate plans, and those prepared to send a high-level leader to speak.

Of the nearly 200 countries present in New York for the General Assembly, only 34 nations and seven non-governmental bodies secured speaking slots at the UN chief's summit.

The aim of the summit is to increase ambitions on climate action, Guterres said.

Notably absent from the speaker list were some of the world's biggest polluters, including China, India and the United States, though US climate envoy John Kerry is attending.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Assistant Climate Change minister Jenny McAllister are attending the summit but neither will be speaking.

READ MORE: Dozens fight 'complicated' service station fire

UK PM slammed for weakening climate change commitments

Also missing from the list was UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, who is facing a backlash at home over plans to weaken the country's climate commitments.

On Wednesday, he announced he was delaying by five years a ban on new gas and diesel cars that had been due to take effect in 2030 and watering down climate goals that he said imposed "unacceptable costs" on ordinary people.

The move angered green groups, opposition politicians and large chunks of UK industry but was welcomed by some in the governing Conservative Party who chafe at the expense of ending reliance on fossil fuels.

READ MORE: Medical conference joins wedding struck by gastro outbreak

At a news conference Sunak said he was moving the deadline for buying new gasoline and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035, and also delaying a ban on new new natural-gas home heating that had been due in 2035.

He said he would keep a promise to reduce the UK's emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases to net zero by 2050, but with "a more pragmatic, proportionate, and realistic approach".

Sunak said he was tossing out a series of environmental proposals, including new aviation taxes, measures to encourage car-pooling and taxes on meat.

To meet net-zero goals, he said, the government would build more wind farms and nuclear reactors, invest in new green technologies and introduce new measures to protect nature.

Sunak argued the UK was "far ahead of every other country in the world" in transforming to a green economy, but said moving too fast risked "losing the consent of the British people".

'Massive backsliding' in push for net zero

Selwin Hart, a special advisor to the UN Secretary-General on climate action and just transition, said there has been "massive backsliding" on commitments from countries around the world.

"The countries that committed to net-zero by 2050, and to the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement, they're expanding fossil fuel licensing at a time when science tells us this is totally incompatible with this 1.5-degree goal," he told CNN in a Tuesday interview.

In his Wednesday speech, Guterres called on developed countries to reach net-zero emissions – removing from the atmosphere at least as much planet-warming pollution as they produce – by 2040, at least ten years earlier than most current commitments.

He also asked countries to commit to timelines to phase out fossil fuel emissions, as well as to significantly increase finance to help low- and middle-income countries quickly move to clean energy and invest in climate resilience measures to better cope with increasingly severe extreme weather events.

"We are decades behind," Guterres said.

"We must make up time lost to foot-dragging, arm-twisting and the naked greed of entrenched interests raking in billions from fossil fuels."

Police are hunting those responsible for stealing a car with a baby inside it, terrifying a Gold Coast mother.

Investigators believe the thieves followed the woman, who can't be named for legal reasons, when she pulled up at her home on Wednesday.

When the mother ducked inside with the car still running and her seven-month-old son asleep in the back seat, they took full advantage.

READ MORE: Dozens fight 'complicated' service station fire

"I just thought, 'Is he gonna die? Who's got him?' and I just couldn't believe it," she told 9News.

"I was frantic. Yeah, it was the most terrifying experience I've ever had."

CCTV shows the car speeding through Varsity Lakes minutes later.

"The neighbours saw them get out, two hoodies on and jumped in the car and took off," the mother said. 

"I heard this massive screech — I just didn't really think anything of it —come out and the car was gone".

The thieves' dash was cut short on a nearby street, where security cameras captured them dumping the SUV and fleeing in what's believed to be a silver hatchback.

READ MORE: Medical conference joins wedding struck by gastro outbreak

"There was another car that they'd already stolen previous to this, or to mine, and they obviously got back in that and left," the mum said.

The baby boy was unharmed, leaving the woman shaken but relieved.

"I just almost fell over I think because I just couldn't believe it," she said, describing the moment she saw her son again.

"And that he was okay because I could see him. It was the best feeling in the world."

She said she was happy to be back with her son but "very angry" about what happened.

READ MORE: Hero nurse's desperate bid to save girls

Those involved remain on the run. Police believe they fled from Varsity Lakes in the silver car just after midday.

Anyone with information should contact the police.