A TWO-year-old boy has died after being left alone in a school minibus for eight hours in near-100 degrees Fahrenheit heat.
Apollo Gabriel Rodrigues was the only one of the kids who remained on the minibus in Sao Paolo, Brazil, after allegedly being forgotten about by the driver and his wife.
Apollo Gabriel Rodrigues was the only child to be left on the bus
The two-year-old boy died after being left on the school mini-bus for eight hours
The 45-year-old driver, named locally as Flavio Robson Benes, discovered the child unconscious on the back seat of the vehicle at around 4pm yesterday.
He desperately rushed him to hospital but he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
He and his partner, named as 44-year-old Luciana Coelho Graft, have been questioned by police as part of an ongoing homicide investigation ahead of the youngster’s funeral which is scheduled for tomorrow.
The minibus was part of a free school transport scheme operated by the city council.
His mum Kaliane Rodrigues recalled how her son had been crying when she handed him over at around 7am so he could be taken to his nursery because he “didn’t want to go.”
She told local media: “Apollo usually went in the front but the driver’s assistant put him on the back seat and forgot about him.
“Regardless of where she placed him in the van, she’s been negligent and irresponsible because anyone who works with children has to always be attentive.
“I want justice. All I want is for justice to be done.”
She added: “Whenever I returned home, my boy was always there.
“Yesterday he wasn’t and I’m never going to see my son again.
“It’s very difficult to get my head round the idea that I left my child on a school bus thinking he’d be safe and went to work.
The child’s grandmother Luzinete Rodrigues dos Santos added: “The minibus was left in a parking lot in stifling heat.
“The driver only realised my grandson was still in the back when it was time to return the children to their families.
“Whoever takes care of children must have maximum responsibility. My daughter wants justice.”
The couple at the centre of the drama has reportedly told police investigators they picked up Apollo from his home at around 7am yesterday morning to take him to his creche.
Brazil has been suffering an extreme heatwave in the past few days and yesterday’s average day-time temperature in Sao Paulo reached around 37 degrees Celsius – 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
In September a baby girl called Madalena died after being left in a car on a Portuguese university campus for several hours in 26-degree heat.
The 10-month-old child’s father, described at the time locally as a lecturer and departmental head at the campus near Lisbon, is believed to have forgotten to drop her off at its creche before going to work and leaving her in the vehicle.
He reportedly called 999 after realising his tragic error and discovering the youngster unconscious inside the car.
Efforts to revive her proved unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The unnamed father is said to have parked the family SEAT Ateca car by the campus creche at around 8am on September 12 before going to work at his office in the Nova School of Science and Technology.
The alarm was not raised until 3.30pm when it was already too late to save the youngster’s life.
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