Boy of five dead after nine hours locked in father’s car

 

A FAMILY tragedy unfolded yesterday when a five-year old boy died after being left for almost nine hours in a locked car as his father performed emergency surgery at a private clinic in Larnaca.

The father, a 41-year-old orthopaedic doctor, was on his way to drop off his child at nursery before 8am yesterday when he got an emergency call from the clinic. The doctor rushed to the clinic to perform surgery on a patient. At the clinic’s uncovered parking lot, he locked the car door with the five-year-old still inside and hurried upstairs to the third floor.

After surgery, it appears the father forgot that his son was still in the car. The outside temperature in Larnaca reached 30 degrees Celsius yesterday.

At 4.30pm, the five-year-old’s mother arrived at the nursery to pick up her son only to find that he had never turned up. She immediately called her husband to find out where he was. The doctor told her that the boy was with him and then sent his anaesthesiologist and a nurse downstairs to the car.

At 4.45pm, they found the boy unconscious in the back seat of the car, with his school bag next to him and a small, empty bottle of water. They rushed him up to the clinic but to no avail. The boy could not be revived. Police were called to the scene.

Speaking to reporters, Larnaca police chief Andreas Georgiou did not rule out heat stroke. The exact cause of death will be established today morning in an autopsy at Larnaca general hospital.

 

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