A three-year-old boy has died after his mum ‘forgot’ he was in the back of her car and left him unattended for several hours in eighty degree heat to go to work.
It is believed the youngster was left alone in the vehicle for up to six hours before anyone realised.
The tragedy occurred yesterday in the municipality of O Porrino near the city of Pontevedra in Spain’s north-west Galician region.
The town hall announced it was declaring three days of mourning and held a minute’s silence at midday today.
A local festival has also been suspended following the tragic news.
Local reports said the unnamed mum had ‘forgotten’ to leave the youngster at his nursery school before going to work.
She is said to have parked her car on land around 10am on Thursday by her workplace in Torneiros, which is part of the municipality of O Porrino, and left her son asleep in a child seat in the back of the vehicle.
The alarm was raised around 4pm, with local reports saying the child’s dad had called her after going to the nursery school and discovering the youngster wasn’t there.
Emergency responders rushed to the scene but were unable to do anything to save his life and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy will now take place to determine exactly when he died.
Local reports said he had been left with a jacket on because although day-time temperatures in the area had risen to around 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) it had been chilly in the morning.
Civil Guard officers in Pontevedra could not be reached for comment on the case.
The child’s mum is understood to be receiving expert counselling.
O Porrino Town Hall said in a statement before the minute’s silence was held: ‘Today at 12 noon a minute’s silence will be observed in the town hall square.
‘Festivities scheduled for this weekend have been suspended out of respect.
‘The flags on the town hall will fly at half mast and the full council session due to be held today has been called off.
‘Mayor Alejandro Lorenzo expresses his most sincere condolences in his name and that of the entire council and offers the youngster’s family all the support they need at this difficult time.’
The news comes following reports an 18-month old girl was found dead in America after her parents left her in a hot car overnight following a party on the Fourth of July holiday.
Jazmine and Joel Rondon, both 33, accidentally left their daughter in her car seat as they took their two other children out of the vehicle after getting home from the Independence Day event, police said.
The next morning, Joel did not see the toddler inside the home and found her strapped to her car seat unresponsive.
She was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead at the scene. Her internal body temperature was over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NBC News.
Similar weather is expected to hit the UK today and throughout the weekend, with the Met Office predicting temperatures to soar to between 27-30C
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