A 5-year-old Virginia boy died Tuesday after being left inside an SUV for several hours in the driveway of his home, according to police.
Emergency officials were called about 3:20 p.m. to the Springfield home in the 6700 block of Grey Fox Drive, where the boy was found unresponsive and still strapped in his car seat, NBC4 Washington reported.
The child was inside the vehicle for “several hours” as temperatures reached 93 degrees outside, Fairfax County police officials said.
He was pronounced dead after being rushed to a nearby hospital.
The boy had arrived home earlier in the afternoon with one of his parents and several other siblings, police said.
“Officers responded here for what was reported as a tragic accident, and at this point, I don’t have any reason to doubt that,” Fairfax County Police Lt. John Lieb said, according to NBC4.
Authorities did not indicate whether charges would be filed in the case.
Hot car deaths have become a frequent tragedy for many U.S. families over several decades.
Since 1990, more than 1,000 children have died in hot cars, according to Janette Fennell, president of Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit focused on preventing accidental deaths of children.
At least 11 children across the country have died so far this year from being left in vehicles.
A safety measure in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed this week in the U.S. Senate calls for an alert system that reminds drivers to check the back seat once the engine is turned off.
“The Senate version is only requesting a reminder system that does not detect anything,” Fennell said, according to Bloomberg News. “It does not let you know if there is an actual child in the back seat.”
In June, a 2-year-old North Carolina child was found dead inside a hot car in what police officials described as a “tragic accident.”
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