Vienna, Austria | AFP | A 19-month-old boy died in Austria after being left in a hot car by his 17-year-old mother and her boyfriend, police said Thursday.
Not wanting to wake him after a long car journey, the couple left the child asleep while they want upstairs for a nap in the western town of Nenzing.
Later the boyfriend rushed down to the car, which was in a secluded spot, and found the child’s lifeless body, Vorarlberg state police said.
“An autopsy… in Innsbruck established the cause of death as heat stroke,” a statement said. The couple are receiving counselling.
Temperatures at the time were around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit).
The glass windows of a closed car produce a greenhouse effect that heats the air inside the car to a temperature higher than that of the outside air. The sun beating down on the car will eventually heat that cool air up, but that takes some time.