Two boys found dead at British air base after 'being left to sleep' in hot car
Two boys have been found dead after being allegedly left to sleep in a car parked at a British air base in Cyprus.
Authorities found the boys, aged eight and 10, trapped in a hot vehicle in the British overseas territory of Dhekelia on the south east of the island.
The children were believed to have been playing while locked in their mother’s car andappear to have died from suffocation and heat burns from exposure to the sun, Cyprus Mail reported.
Police were tipped off by a local resident that the boys were stuck in the car.
Rescuers broke into the vehicle through its windows, before rushing the children to hospital, where they were confirmed dead.
British officers have arrested their father and stepmother, aged 30 and 34 on suspicion of negligence.
The pair are due to appear in court today at 11am local time.
According to the leader of the Xylophafou community Giorgos Loulianos, the boys had come to Cyprus to see their parents who work at the RAF base.
The incident is the latest as a major heatwave saw multiple European countries scorching in 40°C temperatures.
An 18-month-old baby was among four dead in France after emergency services were overwhelmed with call-outs during the searing heat.
Earlier int he week, two children aged two and four died after they were left in the car by their mum.
French officials confirmed another 1,000 elderly and ill people had died due to the extreme heat since June 24, with most of the additional fatalities aged 65 and above.
He was found in a vehicle having been allegedly left by a parent as they travelled to work.
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Last week, London Ambulance Service said it had taken a record number of emergency calls on Wednesday.
The World Health Organisaton (WHO) warned that Europe was heating twice as fast as anywhere else on the planet.
Its directorr-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that ‘once-in-a-generation’ heatwaves were now annual phenomena due to climate change.
He wrote on X: ‘Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling.
‘More than 1300 excess deaths have been recorded since 21 June linked to high temperatures in Europe.
‘Heat stress is often called the ‘silent killer’ – and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures.’
Following a brief respite from the intense heat for most this week, soaring temperatures are set to soon return to the UK.
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