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Police vehicle in action (symbolic image)
Photo: K. Schmitt / Fotostand / IMAGO
In Slovenia, a toddler left alone in the car has died as a result of intense heat. A passer-by had discovered the child in a vehicle that had been parked in a residential area, as the STA news agency reported on Tuesday evening, citing civil protection. The efforts of the rescue workers had been in vain.
According to the information, the incident took place on Tuesday afternoon in the municipality of Prebold, 60 kilometers east of the capital Ljubljana. At that time, temperatures of almost 30 degrees Celsius were measured in Prebold, according to weather services.
The police have arrested the parents of the child, said a police spokesman in the nearby district town of Celje on Slovenian television. The parents are being investigated for negligent homicide.
According to previously unconfirmed information from the news portal 24ur.com, the victim was a boy who was not yet two years old.
Mortal danger
U.S. researchers had already investigated in 2010 how quickly the air in a parked car heats up. If the car is parked in the sun, the temperature can rise by seven degrees in just ten minutes. After half an hour, it increased by 16 degrees, after an hour by 26. The researchers measured indoor temperatures of more than 70 degrees Celsius.
Doctors warn again and again that in the heat you should not leave children alone in the car even for a few minutes. Even a quarter of an hour in a closed car in the blazing sun can be life-threatening.
wit/dpa