Baby dies in overheated car in France after father forgets to drop toddler to nursery

Infant ‘died of suffocation and dehydration’, investigations suggest

Baby dies in overheated car in France while father goes to work (Getty Images)

A baby was found dead after being left in a scorching hot car in France’s heatwave this week.

The 14-month-old was discovered in a car park at aeronautics company Safran in Bordes, southwest France, on Wednesday afternoon.

It was reported that the father “forgot” to drop his son off at nursery before he went to work, leaving the baby in a severely hot vehicle.

Public prosecutor, Cecile Gensac, said that initial investigations suggest the baby “died of suffocation and dehydration”, Mail Online reported.

Emergency services rushed to the car park at around 5pm, after the baby’s mother realised that her child had not attended nursery.

Both parents were sent to the hospital to be treated for shock, it was reported.

It comes as Europe has suffered extreme heat, causing devastating wildfires.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes while forests and grasslands have burned in France, Greece, Portugal and Spain.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes after wildfires raged across Europe (AFP via Getty Images)

So far this year, more than 1.1 million acres have burned across Europe, which is vastly more than the average for the past 15 years of just 270,000.

In France, more than 2,000 firefighters from across the country rushed to the southwest region of Gironde to battle three wildfires that destroyed at least 19,300 hectares of land.

The nearby town of Cazaux recorded 42C on Monday, the highest since its weather station opened in 1921.

Jean-Luc Gleyze, Gironde’s regional president, said: “Because of the temperature, because of the wind, because of the lack of water in the air... it’s a monster and it’s very difficult to fight against it.”