Rotterdam police release father questioned after baby left in locked car dies

The 33-year-old Rotterdam man who was questioned in the death of a baby was released from custody. The baby was found in a "worrying state" after it was left in a car on the Vlaardingweg in the Zuid-Holland city, and was pronounced dead soon after. One witness told media outlets that the man had locked himself out of his car

"Initial findings from the investigation point to a very tragic incident. The man, the baby's father, was released after questioning," police said in an update on Tuesday. The vehicle in question was photographed as having Belgian license plates, though the man lives in Rotterdam.

The incident happened at about 5 p.m. the previous day in a business park and industrial area in the Overschie district. One witness, Mahmoud Shalabi, told AD that a man in his early thirties smashed the rear passenger-side window next to a child's rear-facing car seat. This happened as police, paramedics, firefighters, and an air ambulance raced to the scene.

"We heard a man shouting around a car; he kept walking around it," said Shalabi, who works in the area. He then broke the window. "He was stressed and was walking around with a small baby, it was a boy." Shalabi said the child was no longer breathing when he was removed from the Audi Q2 crossover vehicle.

Paramedics were quick to arrive, and took over resuscitation efforts. While emergency services workers tried to revive the child, it soon emerged the man had locked himself out of his car and was unable to open it. Police have not yet said if the man owned the vehicle.

An intense effort to save the child proved unsuccessful. "Unfortunately the child died. Police are investigating the circumstances," the Rotterdam district police said on X soon after. The cause of death has not been officially released.

Shalabi said the man who had smashed the window was taken into custody. The car was photographed by police investigators, and evidence was collected at the scene before the Audi was towed away.

"I think it's really awful. If I could have helped, I would have. I have children myself. But I didn't know there was a baby. I'm gutted, this really is unfortunate," Shalabi told the newspaper.

At the time of the incident, weather data from the KNMI showed the temperature in Rotterdam to be a bit over 20 degrees Celsius. In those conditions, the temperature inside the passenger cabin of a car can rise by 10 degrees in 10 minutes, and by 20 degrees in 35 minutes.

An individual is at risk of heat stroke when the core body temperature rises above 39 degrees, and symptoms can become more severe during prolonged exposure to heat and higher temperatures. Children's body temperatures can increase up to five times faster than an adults. A core temperature of just under 42 degrees can prove fatal.