A two-year-old girl has died in Spain after she was left inside her father's van for several hours in scorching 25-degree heat.
The incident took place in Brion, near the city of A Coruña in the northern region of Galicia, on Wednesday.
The father had taken his eldest child to school but forgot to drop off his youngest at nursery, which is close to his place of work, according to Spanish news outlet Antena 3.
While the family had the same morning routine every day, the father was distracted by a phone call, meaning he got out of his vehicle and went to work without realising his infant daughter was still inside.
The toddler spent hours trapped in the van as the Galician city experienced hot temperatures with a high of 25 degrees, causing the toddler to become severely dehydrated.
It was not until 3pm that the alarm was raised after the two-year-old's mother went to pick her up from nursery, and discovered her daughter had never been dropped off.
Her parents immediately alerted emergency services, who rushed the girl to the hospital, but by that point, she had gone into cardiac arrest and died shortly after.
The Civil Guard have now opened an investigation into the tragedy, while the Brion Town Council has declared two days of mourning and called for a minute of silence on Friday at midday outside the town hall.
A Spanish toddler has died after her father mistakenly left inside his van for several hours in scorching 25-degree heat. The Civil Guard is investigating the incident. File image shows a Spanish Civil Guard Car
'The Brion Town Council wishes to express its deepest condolences and full support to the family of the young girl who lost her life in Brion, as well as to all her friends, and offers them all the municipal resources they may need during this difficult time,' the local council said in a statement.
The tragedy comes a year after a one-year-old boy was found dead inside a blisteringly hot pickup truck in the US.
The incident happened last May in Albuquerque, when the infant's parents left him in the care of a relative.
But what should have been a routine day turned to horror when that relative left the child in the back seat of his vehicle, parked in the sun with the windows closed.
It wasn't until almost six hours later that someone realised the baby was missing.
Family members contacted the caregiver to ask where the child was, prompting a frantic search - and a heartbreaking discovery.
The Albuquerque fire department rushed to help, but the young boy died at the scene.
According to experts, 80 per cent of a car's temperature rise occurs in the first 10 minutes, making such tragedies horrifyingly quick.
It is not the first time an incident involving a child getting left in a hot car has happened in Galicia, either.
In 2023, a two-year-old boy died from heat stroke after he was left inside a car in the town of Pontevedra, after his mother forgot he was still in the vehicle.