3-Year-Old Boy Dies Of Heat Stroke After Being Left In Family's MPV For 9 Hours

A three-year old boy died of suffocation and heatstroke after he was accidentally left behind in the backseat of the family's multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) for over nine hours today.

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On Thursday (2 Jan 2013), Muhammad Arif Mohd Yusof, three, was found dead in his parents' car where he was left forgotten during the hectic first day of school.

The family left their home at the Kampung Pandan teachers' quarters here at 7.30am with him sleeping and strapped in the backseat of the MPV.

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The boy's father, 41, was supposed to drop him off at a nursery in Indera Mahkota after sending his wife, a school administrative assistsant, and four elder children to their schools.

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However, after making two drops to send his wife and two elder children at SMK Pandan and SK Tunku Azizah in Indera Mahkota where he spent about two hours there, the man drove straight to Taman Tas for a drink.

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When his wife contacted him to pick her up about noon, he drove to SMK Pandan to fetch her and their two children. Later, they went to check on their other two children at SK Tunku Azizah.
The duo had parked their MPV outside the school to wait for their children, who were attending religious classes at the school.

"At 10am, his wife called him to come pick her up at SMK Pandan but he did not do that and drove to Taman Tas for a drink instead. He only went to SK Tunku Azizah at about 2pm and found his wife was already there," said ACP Mohd Jasmani.

Mohd Yusoff, who is a labourer, waited at the guard house while his wife registered their children for religious classes.

It is learnt the situation became chaotic when the family returned to the vehicle and one of the children opened the MPV's boot and found Ariff lying unconscious in the back seat.

They only discovered the toddler at 5pm and rushed him to the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

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“Kami terlupa, minta maaf.” Demikian kata seorang wanita berusia 39 tahun selepas anaknya yang berusia tiga tahun, Muhammad Arif Mohd Yusof ditemui tidak sedarkan diri sebelum disahkan meninggal dunia kira-kira jam 6.30 petang, semalam, selepas ditinggalkan dalam kenderaan selama kira-kira sembilan jam.

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Bagaimanapun, keluarga mangsa yang ditemui di wad kecemasan Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA), di sini, petang semalam, enggan mengulas lanjut mengenai kejadian itu dan menyerahkannya untuk siasatan polis.

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He also said the post-mortem could not determine the cause of death and the boy's organs would be sent to the Chemistry Department for analysis.

ACP Mohd Jasmani said the boy could have died due to anxiety or extreme hunger.

The post-mortem revealed the boy had died of heatstroke.

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The case of a three-year-old boy who died after being left in a car by his father for over nine hours on Thursday, will be probed for negligence.

State CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Mohd Zakaria Ahmad said the case would be investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act.

"We will call up the parents and other witnesses for questioning. It will then be up to the deputy public prosecutor to decide whether to file criminal charges, after the investigation is completed," he said when contacted Friday.