A 2-year-old Arizona girl sweltered to death in a steaming hot car, where she was left by her dad for as long as an hour during a 109-degree heatwave, cops said.
The unidentified toddler was found unconscious by police Tuesday afternoon in the broiling hot vehicle — which the child’s dad claimed he had left running in his driveway with the AC on only to have it stop working while he was away, ABC15 reported.
“Resuscitation efforts were being done and the child was immediately transported to the hospital. Unfortunately, the child was pronounced deceased at the hospital,” police in Marana, about 22 miles northwest of Tucson, wrote on Facebook.
Officials told ABC15 that the victim was left for 30 minutes to an hour in the Paseo Rancho Acero area driveway before she was found unresponsive.
“He left the child in the car. The car was running; the AC was operational,” Captain Tim Brunenkant told Fox 19. “We are trying to determine how long he was in the house, at what time the car may have shut off or the AC stopped working.”
Brunenkant noted that criminal charges have not yet been filed, but that police are probing “to determine if this was a mistake,” per the report.
“We experience this nationwide every summer. When temperatures get above 100 degrees, it could even be 90 degrees,” Brunenkant added. “It just depends on the circumstances. It’s very tragic.”
It was not immediately clear why the father went inside and left the girl in the car.
The girl’s identity has not been shared by authorities.
The temperature in Marana around Tuesday around 4 p.m. was 109 degrees Fahrenheit.
ABC15 noted that in Tucson, where it was a record-setting 111 degrees on Tuesday, it would only take about 20 minutes for the inside of a hot car to reach about 140 degrees, and about 40 minutes for it to reach 150 degrees.
Parts of Arizona are currently under excessive heat warnings as temperatures remain around 110 in many areas.
Police investigation is ongoing.