Boy dies after being left alone in hot car in Sydney’s southwest

Detectives are investigating the tragic circumstances behind a three-year-old boy dying after being left alone in a hot car.

A three-year-old boy who was found dead in the back of a hot car in Sydney may have been left in the vehicle for the entire day.

The boy was found by his father in the car at about 3pm on Thursday on Railway Parade, Glenfield as temperatures soared to 34C.

Detectives are now investigating claims the dad dropped his eldest son off at school in the morning but forgot to take his youngest child to childcare, the Daily Mail reported.

When the man returned to the car in the afternoon he made the horror discovery.

A witness told the Daily Telegraph the man punched a hole in the back window he saw the boy was unconscious.

The boy was taken into a nearby store in an attempt to resuscitate him; however, when NSW Ambulance officers arrived the boy was unresponsive.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Footage from the scene shows distraught people on the ground near the car.

A man covered his face as he sobbed, with blood running down his right hand.

Police on the scene on Railway Parade in Glenfield. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The car where a three-year-old boy was found unresponsive. Picture: Jonathan Ng

A police spokesman said the boy had been in the car all day.

The boy’s father was questioned by police over the incident but was released without charge, a police spokesman told NCA NewsWire.

Officers say a man was taken to the local police station and is assisting with the investigation. Picture: ABC News

The three-year-old was found in a locked vehicle outside shops in Glenfield, where temperatures currently sit above 30 degrees. #9Newshttps://t.co/CCpnJZM96D

— 9News Perth (@9NewsPerth) February 2, 2023

Temperatures soared to 34C in Glenfield in Sydney's southwest. Picture: ABC News

Child safety advocates Kidsafe claim more than 5000 children are rescued from hot cars in Australia every year – the majority being babies and toddlers.

“Leaving children unattended in a car – even for a short period of time – can be fatal,” reads information on Kidsafe’s website.

“Children are particularly at risk because they can lose fluid quickly, become dehydrated and suffer from heat stroke.”

In December 2015, celebrity chef Matt Moran called media to a cooking demonstration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach where he’d prepared a piece of lamb using just the interior heat of a parked car.

“This has been in there for a little over an hour and a half,” Moran, said, slicing open the meat in a video of the demonstration. “That to me is overdone.”