A 14-month-old girl is dead after her grandmother left her in a hot car for eight hours while she went to work, police said.
The grandmother, 54, forgot to drop off the child at a day care center in Smithtown on New York’s Long Island and headed to work on Monday, the Suffolk County Police Department said in a news release reported by NBC News.
Eight hours later, the woman went to the day care to pick up the girl and realized she had left the child in the car, according to The Associated Press. Monday’s temperature reached 83 degrees in Smithtown, but temperatures inside a car can be much higher.
The toddler was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead.
Police said they’re still investigating and didn’t indicate whether there will be any charges.
About 40 children a year die from heatstroke after being left inside hot cars, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns against leaving a child in a parked car, even if the windows are open. Though it may feel comfortable outdoors, temperatures inside a vehicle can quickly soar to dangerous levels, the CDC says.
“Leaving a window open is not enough,” the CDC says. “Temperatures inside the car can rise almost 20 degrees Fahrenheit within the first 10 minutes, even with a window cracked open.”