3-year-old girl dies after being forgotten in car in southern town

A three-year-old girl died Saturday after she was forgotten in a car in the southern town of Hura.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, the girl’s mother and grandmother frantically searched for the child before she was discovered in the car.

She was taken to the Soroka Medical Center in nearby Beersheba in critical condition, where doctors were forced to pronounce her death.

Police said in a statement that they opened an investigation into the incident.

According to the B’Terem child safety organization, five children have died as a result of being forgotten or trapped in a car since the start of the year. In 2021, six children died under those circumstances.

“On hot days like today, the temperature in a closed car can quickly reach 70 degrees [Celsius]. We remind parents and everyone who drives children to make sure that all children are out of the vehicle at the end of the trip,” Orly Silvinger, head of B’Terem, said in a statement.

“Before locking the car, open the back door and make sure no child has been forgotten. After parking, make sure the car is locked and keep the car keys away from the children to prevent children from entering the car without supervision,” she said.