The importance of not allowing young children to play around unlocked vehicles while unsupervised is a topic of conversation in Alabama after two young boys passed away tragically. According to a press release shared by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office on their Facebook page, the children were brothers.
On Saturday, August 15, the boys’ parents believed their sons were in the house playing together in one of the rooms. It was after they went looking for the boys that they realized their 3-year-old and 1-year-old sons were nowhere to be found inside their home.
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Two Brothers Pass Away After They Were Found in Hot Car
According to the press release, the parents phoned 911 around 2:35 p.m. to report their boys missing. “Deputies from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area and began searching for them,” the release explained.
It was around an hour later, at 3:30 p.m., that the children were found inside their hot car, AL.com reported. It’s believed that the car was unlocked and the curious boys had ventured outside to play inside of the vehicle. At some point, the boys accidentally locked themselves inside of the hot car. By the time first responders found them, sadly, it was too late.
As the release reported, “Emergency medical treatment was provided by Southeast Shelby Rescue and both children were transported to Shelby Baptist Medical Center where they later died.” In a statement made by Sheriff John Samaniego, he said, “Our hearts and prayers are with the family of those two little boys during this unimaginable tragedy.”
Investigators were also called to the tragic scene. The children’s deaths remain under investigation. According to AL.com, temperatures were in the high 90s in Shelby County that Saturday.
As Kids and Cars reported, the children were the 16th and 17th hot car deaths this year. As of August 2020, 19 children have passed away as a result of the dangers hot cars pose.