A boy has died after being left in a hot car as his mother prepared for a child's party. Police in Texas say the child was accidentally left for up to three hours.
It is understood the mother was preparing a birthday party for an eight-year-old girl when the tragedy happened. It is thought she had not realised the little boy was still inside the vehicle, reports The Mirror.
According to Texas police it was between two and three hours after she and a second child had got out of the car that she realised the youngster was not there.
She had thought that the youngster was in the house but having searched there, she then went out to the car at their home in Harris County, north east Houston. She then discovered he was still strapped in his seat
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed that the child had died after being left for “several hours”. He said that officers had gone to the scene on Blair Hill Lane shortly after 3pm and that an investigation has now started.
Sheriff Gonzalez tweeted : “Pct 3 units were dispatched to the 13700 blk of Blair Hill Ln. Upon arrival units determined a child (possibly 5 yrs) was left inside a vehicle for several hours. The child was pronounced deceased at the scene. HCSO Investigators are enroute to the scene.”
Police said that the mum had gone with her two children to a shop to buy items for a birthday party. On returning home the mum and daughter had got out but the boy remained strapped to his seat, Sheriff Gonzalez, said.
He told a police conference: " Mum went inside, the other sibling was inside as well, after a couple of hours, maybe two or three hours, mum noticed that the other child was nowhere to be found, began calling to him no answer, she frantically ran outside and found the boy still buckled in."
The mum told detectives that the five-year-old knew how to unbuckle himself and get out of a car - which is why she assumed he had gone indoors. The sheriff did add that the car, which pictures show to be a Porsche, was on loan and it may have been that the boy was unfamiliar with the lock which could have led to the tragedy.
It is unclear at this stage whether the unnamed woman will face charges over the death.
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