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10/17/2013

By Ivan Pereira and Dan Rivoli

A teenage girl was found with a dead baby in her shopping bag when she was stopped by a security guard Thursday at the Herald Square Victoria’s Secret, police said.

Cops were called into the store at 34th Street and Sixth Avenue around 1 p.m. and questioned the 17-year-old girl, who allegedly was believed to be shoplifting with her friend, police said.

The medical examiner arrived shortly after to try to determine what happened to the baby.

“We don’t know yet if the baby was born dead or died later,” a police spokesman said.

The mother was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center for observation while her 17-year-old friend was taken to the Midtown South Precinct for questioning. No arrests or charges were made as of Thursday evening. The two teens were not identified by officials.

An NYPD spokesman wouldn’t comment on reports that the baby was prematurely delivered on Wednesday.

The store remained open while the police investigated the scene.

Anna Mastropitro, a tourist from Toronto who was in the store, said she was stunned when she heard about the incident.

“It’s shocking. A baby? It’s unacceptable,” the 52-year-old woman said.

Esther Gross, 44, of the Upper West Side, said she knew there was a dead body inside the store when she saw a medical examiner’s vehicle outside Victoria’s Secret while standing across the street.

As a day-care worker and mother of an 18-year-old, she said it hurt to hear about a teen mother allegedly disposing of her baby.

“There’s hospitals, there’s churches,” she said. “We live in a country with so many benefits.”