Thailand – 5-Year-Old Girl Dies of Suffocation After Teacher Left Her in Humid Car

A teacher in Thailand committed a fatal mistake related to one of her students that tragically led to the child’s death. The five-year-old girl was left inside a locked sweltering pick-up truck for eight hours under the sweltering heat outside after her teacher allegedly forgot the student was still in the vehicle.

The student, Nong Yaem, was pronounced dead at the scene after she was discovered at the end of the day inside the humid truck. Temperatures outside reached 35C and the blistering mid-day sunlight practically turned the vehicle into an ‘oven’ in the Phupha Man district, northeastern Thailand.

Nursery school childminder Wijiltra Soodkana, 32, used her own car to pick up Nong Yaem and five other children from their homes in Khon Kaen on Monday morning around 7:30 because the school minibus had broken down.

Five children along with a maid climbed in the tail bed of the pick-up while Nong Yaem sat in the front seat.

When they arrived at the school, Soodkana let the six people from the back out but allegedly forgot about the young student in the front. She also locked the doors after going out, leaving the student trapped inside. The child suffocated inside the humid vehicle.

The child was only discovered when the teacher and other children went back to the vehicle at around 3:30 p.m. to go home.

The mother of the child was inconsolable and called the incident “unforgivable.” The heartbroken mom could not accept why nobody heard her child’s tears.

The mother Kalaya Noikaew wailed: ''They forgot about my daughter and caused her death. It is not forgivable. How could they do that?

''She died in pain. I cannot think about this without crying. I will cry every night but nothing can ever save her. Nobody heard her tears.

The 31-year-old mom said there should be accountability for the negligence that led to her child’s death. She said: I sent my daughter to school to be looked after now she is dead. My family will fight for justice. The teacher has to be punished.

A post-mortem examination found the child died from suffocation as the vehicle was left in sunlight throughout the day with all the windows closed.

It is not yet clear what charges, if any, will be filed against the school and the teacher.

Source:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/girl-5-boiled-alive-after-12748851