4-year old dies after being trapped in car

A FOUR-YEAR-old child was found dead at the backseat of a car parked at Holy Child campus in Barangay Mintal, Tugbok District around 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

The victim was identified as Tricia Mae Silay, resident of Km. 13, Barangay Catalunan Pequeño, Talomo District.

Initial investigation conducted by Tugbok Police Precinct revealed that the victim’s father, Erwin Silay and his wife, a security guard of the school, left their daughter to play at the parking area.

Few minutes later, a Grade 11 student discovered the victim inside the Kia Sephia owned by Cris Churchill C. Santos, 39, a teacher in the said school.

Police believed that the victim got trapped inside the car and didn’t know how to open the doors. Santos admitted that he might have left the vehicle unlocked.

The school will reportedly shoulder the expenses of the burial.

Although there’s no data in the country about how many children left unattended inside locked cars died, the website Noheatstroke.org said they recorded 39 incidents of kids trapped inside a car who died due to heatstroke in United Stated last year.

According to the site, the average temperature inside the car can get 30-40 degree higher compared to the temperature outside. So if it’s 32 degree Celsius outside, it can get as high as 70 degrees inside which can be fatal even for just a few minutes.

Heatstroke occurs when the body’s temperature surpasses 40 degrees Celsius. Among the symptoms   are dizziness, confusion, disorientation, hallucination, rapid heartbeat, loss of consciousness and seizure.

Kids are especially vulnerable because their ability to sweat, which would help bring down the temperature, is not as developed as adults. Just like pets, they’re also natural heat insulators.  by Jeannyffer Kaye Kazzandra M. Dumagpi/UM Intern