A three year old boy suffocated to death after being trapped in his mother’s car in the Isaan province of Buriram. A rescue team attempted to save the child’s life but he died on the way to the hospital.
Baan Bua Municipality Rescue Team rushed to a local restaurant in the Baan Bua sub-district of Buriram yesterday at 3pm after a 33 year old mother named Phitsamai sought help for her three year old son Kittinan, or Gun, who was in critical condition after being trapped in a pickup truck.
Upon arriving at the scene, officers found the young boy unconscious on the back seat of the pickup and immediately rushed him to the hospital. Along the way, the rescue team provided CPR in an effort to save the boy’s life, but unfortunately, he passed away upon arrival at the hospital.
The doctor revealed that the child’s body went without oxygen for an extended period, which ultimately led to his death.
Gun’s mother, Phitsamai, informed the media in tears that she had three children: a six year old, three years old (Gun), and a one year old. On the day of the incident, she took the oldest son and Gun to school to pick up some free milk for the school holiday and took them to her restaurant.
Phitsamai said she parked her pickup in front of the restaurant and got out with her two children before heading to work.
She did not see Gun playing but assumed he was with friends who lived near the restaurant. Gun disappeared for a long time, so she started looking for him and later found the boy in the car.
Phitsamai was sure both children had climbed out of the car when she parked and could not understand how Gun managed to get inside the vehicle. She added that she taught Gun to honk the car horn if he needed help but did not know why Gun did not do so.
Gun’s grandmother, 64 year old Lamoon, told officers that she did not see Gun entering the restaurant. Lamoon asked Phitsamai about Gun, and Phitsamai informed her that Gun was cycling outside the restaurant. She did not suspect anything until discovering his body inside the car.
An officer from the Mueang Buriram Police Station, Anuprem Toomnanork, reported that the police found vomit on the back seat and spotted many fingerprints on the car’s windows which indicated that the child tried to get out of the vehicle.
Anuprem stated that his officers had gathered all of the evidence at the scene and will conduct more investigations to discover how the child was trapped in the car before announcing a verdict.
Last year, a driver and teacher were charged with negligence causing the death of another person after a seven year old girl, Ji Hoon, died in a school van. The girl had been left inside the vehicle all day. This incident brought awareness to teachers and parents in Thailand, who started to educate children to honk the car horn if they become trapped inside a vehicle.
