Three-year-old boy dies in hot car in Turkey ‘after father left him in 37C heat’ to go for a drink
Badr Alddin Malahafji, three, poses with father Sifeddin, 34, in an undated photo
A three-year-old boy died in a hot car after his father left him alone for thirty minutes to drink tea with his brother.
Toddler Badr Alddin Malahafji insisted on joining his dad on the outing, but by the time they arrived at the Turkish tea house on Monday, Badr had fallen asleep.
Not wanting to wake him, Sifeddin Malahaji, 34, cracked open a window and parked the vehicle in the shade.
When he returned half an hour later, Badr was dead, The Mirror reported.
The car was no longer in the shade, with the day’s blazing 37C (99F) heat directed straight onto the vehicle.
Paramedics were unable to revive the three-year-old after he was rushed to hospital.
Distraught dad Sifeddin said: ‘May God not let anyone experience this pain.’
The family, including mother Hiba Alheraki, 28, had travelled to southern city Adana for a wedding.
Family friend Saban Koseoglu confirmed that Sifeddin was only inside for half an hour.
Badr’s parents were brought in to make a police statement and released as an autopsy took place at the Adana Forensic Medicine Institution.
Sifeddin is pictured waiting outside the morgue in southern Turkey to collect his boy
The distraught father collapsed and broke down when the child’s body was returned to him
When the boy’s body was returned to his family, Sifeddin reportedly burst into tears and collapsed.
He added: ‘The father goes to his brother. When he returns half an hour or at the latest an hour later, he sees his son lying motionless.
The hot car (centre) was in the shade when initially parked, but became extremely hot in the 37C (98.6F) conditions on Monday
‘[It’s] something that could happen to anyone. The windows were open, they were not closed. But it happened because the weather was hot.’
A two-year-old boy in Kansas died in a hot car amid 92F temperatures during the state’s heatwave earlier this month.
Local Sheriff Chris Wells said the unnamed child had climbed into the car by himself.
And a 14-month-old baby tragically died in their father’s vehicle after the Frenchman ‘forgot to drop them at nursery and left his car at work’.
‘Investigations suggest that the young child died of suffocation and dehydration,’ Bordes, south-western France prosecutor Cecile Gensac said last month.
‘No one heard the slightest noise’, he added.
The parents of the baby, neither of whom have prior criminal records, were sent to Pau hospital after suffering ‘shock’.
Psychological support units were also set up for staff at the child’s nursery, which cares for around 80 children.
