Thursday , November 7 2024

Austrian toddler dies left in hot car

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.

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“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.

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