Baby dies after being found in car in hot Irish weather

Irish police have launched an investigation into the circumstances that led to a seven-month-old baby girl dying of heatstroke after being locked for hours in a car in County Tipperary on the hottest day of the year so far in Ireland.

The Garda Síochána found the child in “unresponsive state” following a 999 call. The car was parked in the village of Dundrum in Tipperary on Thursday. She was airlifted via helicopter from a sports field to University Hospital Limerick in south-west Ireland, but was pronounced dead later on Thursday afternoon.

There were local reports that the girl was found in her father’s car after he had gone to work. Irish broadcaster RTE reported that she was the only child of a couple from Kilfeakle, Tipperary.

A police spokesperson described the incident as a “personal tragedy” and a “very sensitive” case. The gardaí have been liaising with family members since the incident unfolded, they said.

Temperatures in the county soared as high as 26 degrees, the hottest day of the year so far in the Irish Republic.

Roger Kennedy, a Fianna Fáil county councillor from nearby Cashel, told the Irish Times on Thursday: “The whole area is in shock.” He described the people touched by the tragedy as “a popular, well-known family” who are very involved in the community. “There is total sadness here.”

Sinn Fein councillor Martin Browne said: “They are a very nice, very respectable family and it’s just a complete tragedy. I’m sure the whole community will rally around the family.”

The gardaí will pass a file from their investigation on to the Tipperary coroner but the Irish police are understood to be treating the incident as an accident.