Parents abandon brothers aged five and three after taking them to Portugal and leaving them in the woods blindfolded

By PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 13:47, 21 May 2026 | Updated: 13:53, 21 May 2026 Two young brothers have been abandoned by their parents in a wooded area in Portugal, after they took the boys there and left them blindfolded.  Barthélémy and Zacharie, aged five and three respectively, were found wandering down a rural road between the towns of Alcácer do Sal and Comporta on Tuesday evening at around 7pm.  Eugénia and Artur Quintas, a local couple, found the boys with nothing more than a change of clothes, two pieces of fruit and two bottles of water on them.  Artur said: 'They were crying, they were terrified. They were crying and calling for their father.' He added that they were both covered in dirt, and one had hurt his knee. Neither boy had any identifying documents on them.  The Quintases stayed with the young children and called the police, who quickly arrived and took them to Setúbal Hospital for a full health assessment.  After questioning them, they were able to figure out that the boys had actually come from France.  The boys told authorities that their mother told them they were going to play a game. She blindfolded them and took them to a wooded area, before abandoning them.  Two young brothers (pictured) have been abandoned by their parents in a wooded area in Portugal, after they took the boys there and left them blindfolded The boys were taken to hospital to be looked at, and police spoke to them there They were given nothing more than a change of clothes, two pieces of fruit and some water  When they took their eye coverings off, the boys realised they had been left to fend for themselves.  Artur told local media: 'The oldest one told me that he and his brother had gotten lost in the forest and that their father and mother had left without taking them.'  He added: 'I realised right away that they had been abandoned by the backpacks. When I saw the way the backpacks were packed, I knew they had been abandoned.' The boys were placed into foster care after information about the boys was requested from the French embassy in Portugal, and their parents were identified.  The information also revealed they had no blood relatives in the country and that the parents and the boys had been missing for 15 days after fleeing France.  They may have also abandoned another child, aged 16. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.