Toddler dies in scorching hot car after father forgets to drop her off at daycare

©Daisy D via Unsplash

A two-year-old girl has died in northwestern Spain after being trapped for hours in a car in which temperatures became unbearable to survive.

The region of Galicia is holding two days of mourning after the toddler tragically died. The baby suffered a cardiac arrest on Wednesday afternoon after spending several hours in a hot vehicle in the municipality of Brión. Spain is experiencing exceptionally high temperatures for the month of May. According to the Spanish weather service Aemet, the mercury could even reach 38 degrees Celsius.

Spanish media report that on the tragic morning, the father had first gone to take the older sibling to school. The intention was to then take his two-year-old daughter to daycare. But a phone call distracted him and he allegedly forgot. Consequently, he drove straight to work and accidentally left his little daughter alone in the car for hours, locked in the car on a scorching hot day. The little girl did not survive.

When the mother wanted to pick up her little daughter at the nursery around 3 p.m., she was told that the girl hadn't come to daycare. It then became clear to the family that a tragic event had taken place. The emergency services were notified and the child was transferred to a hospital in nearby Bertamiráns. She was pronounced dead on location. The police are investigating the facts. The family is getting psychological counseling. The entire Galicia region held a minute of silence to remember the girl  on Friday.

©Daisy D via Unsplash - illustration image of a baby in a car