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Tot, 3, Dies In Hot Car While Dad Drank Tea With His Brother

A devastated dad has collapsed after learning that his three-year-old son who he left sleeping in the back seat of a car had died after being cooked alive in the heat while the dad drank tea with his brother.

Devastated Sifeddin Malahaji, 34, and his wife Hiba Alheraki, 28, had travelled from the southern Turkish city of Adana to the Yesilyuva neighbourhood of Seyhan district in neighbouring Hatay for a family wedding when the tragedy happened on 15th August.

The father who collapsed when he got his son’s body back following the autopsy, said that after arriving, he had decided to visit his brother and his three-year-old son, Badr Alddin Malahafji, had also wanted to go with him.

Badr Alddin Malahafji, 3, poses together with his father in an undated photo. He died after he was left sleeping in a hot car in Adana, Turkey, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (Newsflash)

The dad said that by the time they arrived, the little boy was asleep, so he had parked in the shade, and left the window slightly open as he went to see his brother who had business in the city centre.

He said that when he came back half an hour later to check on the boy, he was unconscious, and despite calling paramedics, nothing could be done.

Local media confirmed that the car had been parked in the shade, but while the dad had been drinking tea, the sun had moved, leaving the vehicle exposed directly to the hot sun which on the day of the tragedy reached up to 37 centigrade outside.

Badr Alddin Malahafji, 3, poses in an undated photo. He died after he was left sleeping in a hot car in Adana, Turkey, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (Newsflash)

Both the boy’s mother and father were quizzed by cops after the tragedy, and the dad told police: “When I went to leave the house my son ran after me crying because he wanted to come with me. I parked in the shade and went to visit my brother at his workplace. I just didn’t want to wake him up and left the windows open a little bit. When I returned half an hour later, I saw that he was unconscious. We called the medics admitted into hospital, but he was already dead.”

After making a statement the pair were released and the body was handed over to relatives following an autopsy at the Adana Forensic Medicine Institution.

Saban Koseoglu, a friend of the family that is originally from Syria, confirmed it was only a short visit to the brother where the pair had tea and coffee. They confirm that the father had parked in the shade but that the sun had moved, leaving the vehicle in the direct sunlight.

Photo shows M. Sifeddin Malahaji (middle), the father of Badr Alddin Malahafji, waiting outside a morgue to collect the body of his son, undated photo. Badr Alddin died after he was left sleeping in a hot car in Adana, Turkey, Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. (Newsflash)

The child’s body has been taken to the Hatay Reyhanlı district for burial by his family.

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