2-year-old girl dies after accidentally being left in car for hours

LAHAD DATU: A two-year-old girl died after being left in her mother’s car for more than two hours near the family’s home in Taman Aman 1 here on Wednesday.

The youngest of four siblings was found unconscious by her 31-year-old mother in the back seat of the car.

Lahad Datu district police chief Nasri Mansor said the victim, who was rushed to the Lahad Datu Hospital, was confirmed dead at 4.40pm.

“ The cause of the death was heat-related,” he said in a statement here today.

The victim’s mother, a housewife, was arrested by the police to assist in the investigation.

According to Nasri, the suspect took the victim to fetch her two older children, aged nine and 10, from Sekolah Kebangsaan Lahad Datu 2 at 1pm and then returned home.

However, when she arrived at home, the suspect parked her Perdua Bezza car by the roadside and ordered the eldest child to bring the victim into the house.

“The woman then went on to perform her prayers on the second floor of the house and fell asleep.

“At 3.45pm, when the woman and her husband wanted to eat, they called the victim to join them but failed to find her anywhere,” he said.

Nasri said the mother later searched the car and found the child unconscious in the back seat.

Police have seized the Perdua Bezza car and are investigating the case under Section 304A of the Penal Code, he said. - FMT