Miraculous: Boy, 2, Left Alone Inside Parent’s Car Narrowly Escapes Death

Matilda Omonaiye/

A two-year-old boy miraculously escaped death on Thursday after a car he was left alone in somersaulted and fell into a gully.

The child reportedly sustained injuries to his head and arms.

The incident happened in Magodo area of Lagos after the unidentified two-year-old’s mum briefly left him alone in the car to pick up an item in the house, but left the engine running.

The woman, identified as Mrs Olaore Yetunde, reportedly forgot to engage the car’s hand brakes, leaving the car to roll out of their compound on its own with the child trapped inside.

The car, a Hyundai SUV, subsequently rolled across the main road, slid off the road and tumbled into a gully upside-down.

The child was reportedly rescued by men of the police Rapid Response Squad stationed close to the scene of the incident.

Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike, issued a statement today confirming the incident.

The statement expressed the growing concern of the police hierarchy with the increasing cases of parental negligence and vowed that parents who put their children or wards in harm’s way due to negligence will henceforth be prosecuted.

The statement reads: “A mother, Mrs Olaore Yetunde, a resident of Adetoro Adelaja street, Magodo, Lagos, on May 24, 2018, put her 2-year-old son in harm’s way by leaving him alone in the car while she dashed into her apartment situate in the aforementioned address to pick up an item.

“According to the findings of the police team that visited the scene, Mrs Olaore drove her Hyundai 4-wheel-drive SUV with registration number AAA 507 DE into her compound at Adetoro Adelaja street, Magodo. She left her son in the car and hurriedly went inside her apartment to pick up an item without properly bringing the car to a halt with the handbrake.
The result was that before she could come back to the car, it had drifted out through one side of the gate that was left open after she drove inside. The car further drifted across the road and slide off the main road into a 20 feet gully with the bottom of the car facing up after it somersaulted several times.

“The infant who sustained injuries in the head and the arm was rescued by the Command’s Rapid Response Squad patrol team stationed near the scene of incident.

“The child was instantly rushed to an undisclosed hospital for a first aid, from where he was referred to another hospital in Ikeja for a comprehensive treatment.

“The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Imohimi Edgal advised parents to draw lessons from the unfortunate incident and never leave their little children all by themselves in their cars. The CP reiterated that negligent parents would be prosecuted in accordance with relevant laws.”

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