2-year-old died in scorching 42-degree Honda SUV as father allegedly played video games outside: report

A two-year-old girl in Arizona, US, died due to heat exposure earlier this month after she was left alone in a car whose temperature shot up to 108.9 degree Fahrenheit (42.7 degree Celsius). An investigation has revealed that her father was allegedly engrossed in video games while the child was inside the hot car.

According to an autopsy report released on Wednesday, the temperature in the car had shot up to 42.7 degree Celsius by the time the first responders found the toddler's lifeless body in the Honda SUV, New York Post reported, quoting Arizona Republic Wednesday.

Christopher Scholtes, 37, had allegedly left his daughter, Parker Scholtes, to nap inside the air-conditioned Honda SUV for three hours on July. The car was parked outside the family's home in a suburb of in the town of Arizona's Marana.

The mother of the two-year-old was not at home at that time. When she returned home, she saw her child in an unresponsive state inside the car which, by that time, did not have the air-conditioning on, Arizona Republic reported, quoting the police.

The mother performed CPR on the girl until the first-responders arrived at their home. The child was subseuently taken to a medical centre where doctors declared her dead, according to reports.

The father was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and child abuse last month.

In a similar instance, a five-year-old boy died after his foster mother left him in a hot car for seven hours in Omaha in the US state of Nebraska

US reels under heat wave

Several parts of the United States are facing an intense heatwave this summer, with Arizona being among the worst affected. Arizona's capital city, Phoenix, is feared to touch 113 degree Fahrenheit (45 Celsius) this weekend, as per the weather forecast.

Research showed mobile home dwellers were particularly at risk in blistering hot Phoenix.

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