“We want to express our deepest condolences to the parents,” said Mestre Cuco school following the incident on Thursday, July 23
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NEED TO KNOW
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An 18-month-old girl was left in a daycare center’s minibus for eight hours amid 81°F heat
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She had reportedly been picked up by a school employee to be transported to their daycare center in Almada, Portugal
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Authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the fatal incident
A toddler is dead after being left inside a minibus for several hours amid Portugal’s scorching heat.
At around 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, July 23, the child, identified only as Sofia, was found in “critical condition” inside a school transport vehicle in the city of Almada along the Tagus River, near Lisbon, according to the U.K.’s Metro and Portuguese outlet Jornal de Notícias.
Paramedics tried to revive the 18-month-old girl, but she died at the scene. The temperature in Almada was around 27°C (81°F) at the time, according to the outlets.
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An employee of Mestre Cuco school in Almada reportedly picked her up at around 8 a.m. on Thursday to take her to daycare in a Peugeot 5008, per Jornal de Notícias.
That day, Sofia’s parents didn’t receive confirmation that she was at daycare, which had been the protocol for a year. Her mother raised concerns when she went to pick her daughter up in the afternoon and saw that she wasn’t at the daycare, per Metro and Jornal de Notícias.
The vehicle in which Sofia was left was eventually found parked in front of a different facility from the one she attended, according to Metro.
The Mestre Cuco school said in a statement on Facebook, “It is with deep consternation and immense pain that the Management of Colégio O Mestre Cuco was confronted this afternoon with the tragic event that claimed one of our children.”
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“In this moment of indescribable suffering, we want to express our deepest condolences to the Parents and the family as well as to all those who were close to them,” the school continued. “…The Management of Colégio is following the situation with the utmost seriousness and sense of responsibility, collaborating with the competent authorities in the rigorous investigation of all facts.”
In an updated Facebook post shared on Friday, July 24, the Mestre Cuco school confirmed that the vehicle involved in the incident belongs to Mestre Cuco and is licensed for this purpose.
The unidentified staff member who picked up Sofia regularly transports children to the school and has no prior incidents with the police, according to Jornal de Notícias.
The Portuguese Judicial Police has reportedly launched a criminal investigation into the incident.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Portuguese Judicial Police for comment.
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