A pregnant Iraqi woman has given birth to a baby girl in the woods near Glina, about 70 km south of Zagreb, after illegally entering Croatia with her husband, police said on Wednesday.

Police encountered the couple in the woods outside Glina on Tuesday afternoon. The woman was in an advance stage of pregnancy and went into labour, after which the police called an ambulance. They helped her give birth on site before the ambulance arrived and she and the baby girl were later taken to the General Hospital in Sisak.

An inquiry has revealed that the couple are from Iraq and have crossed the border illegally. The man has expressed his intent to formally apply for asylum and has been put up in the reception centre for asylum seekers in Zagreb, while the woman and baby are still in hospital, Sisak-Moslavina County Police said.