A 22-months-old boy has died after being left alone in a hot car this afternoon.
The Herald Sun reports HOMICIDE squad detectives are investigating whether a toddler found dead in a sweltering car in the driveway of a day care centre yesterday was dropped off earlier that day, as locals try to come to grips with the tragedy.
Emergency services were called to a residence in Kyneton, northeast of Melbourne, at around 3pm yesterday. The temperature at the time was 31.6 degrees.
Police are probing whether a female relative accidentally thought she had dropped off the 22-month-old boy before carrying out their normal daily routine.
It is understood the woman then attended the day care centre in Banksia Crescent, Kyneton — an hour north of Melbourne — shortly before 3pm when the discovery was made.
Paramedics from an ambulance station just 200m away rushed to the scene after receiving the 000 call at 2.57pm and smashed the back window of the Toyota HiLux on arrival.
The small boy was still strapped in his child seat and, despite attempting CPR for several minutes, he could not be revived.
Local area commander Inspector Ryan Irwin called the incident an “absolute tragedy”.
Experts said if it was 30C outside, the temperature inside a car could rise to more than 40C in less than five minutes and reach well above 60C.
Paramedics said the initial call was of an unconscious child in a car but nothing could be done to save the boy.
A woman, believed to be the boy’s mother, was seen sobbing, sat slumped against the day care centre’s letterbox and being consoled by police.
Victoria Police confirmed the boy was found by a family member.
The centre was run by a “lovely” young girl who had been in the community a long time and had operated in the street for quite a while, he said.
The centre looked after about six or seven kids.
The childcare operator, who the couple know, would also be struggling.