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A child had died after being left inside a hot vehicle for a couple of hours outside a family home in the US, revealed police in Harris County, Texas.
According to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, a mother and her two children - ages eight and five - were out running errands for the elder child’s birthday party and when they arrived back, the mother and her daughter got out of the vehicle.
The mother was unaware that her little boy was still strapped inside. Sheriff Gonzalez said by the time she realised that she had not seen him it was too late.
“Between maybe two to three hours, the mother noticed that the five-year-old wasn’t nowhere to be found,” the sheriff said. “She began calling for him, but no answer. She frantically ran outside and discovered him still buckled in his car seat.”
Afternoon temperatures soared slightly above 100 degrees on Monday afternoon, and temperatures inside the closed vehicle were even higher.
The Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet released his official cause of death, but Sheriff Gonzalez told local media that he likely died due to heat stroke.
“It appears that the child routinely knows how to unbuckle himself from the toddler’s seat and open the door, but on this occasion, it didn’t happen,” he added.
Officials are reminding parents who are travelling with their children during days of extreme heat to put something in the back seat to remind them that a child is in the vehicle with them.
“Look before you lock, always check that backseat, do your roll call, make sure everyone is accounted for when you get in the house,” said Amber Rollins, director of Kids and Car Safety.