Bypassers rescue 2-year-old on verge of dehydration from locked car

Nahariya residents on Thursday rescued a two-year-old child, on the verge of dehydration, from a locked car by smashing its windows.

The child was left in the car by his grandfather, who was subsequently questioned by police over suspicion of negligence.

Eight months ago, a 7-month-old baby girl from Ramat Yishai died after her father left her in a car for 90 minutes. The father had come to a motorbike repair shop in Kibbutz Sha'ar Ha'amakim, in the Jezreel Valley, to discuss repairs to his quad bike, and left his daughter in the locked car, where the temperature reached an estimated 70 degrees Celsius. He went to check on her only when the child's mother called him 90 minutes later, only to find that she had died of dehydration.

According to the National Center for Children's Health and Safety, 35 children have been left unattended in cars since 2004; two of them died as a result. The organization estimates that dozens of such cases go unreported each year.

National Council for the Child data reveals that the rate of conviction for parents who caused the death or injury of their children through negligence has been less than 1.5 percent during the last six years.