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3-year-old Texas boy dies after hours of heat in daycare van

By Ray Downs

July 20 (UPI) -- A 3-year-old Texas boy died after being left in a daycare van for several hours, officials said Thursday.

The boy had been on the Discovering Me Academy's van for a field trip. When the vehicle returned to the school, the driver and chaperone did not realize the boy was inside, Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen told reporters.

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School employees didn't realize the child was missing until his father came to pick him up. They first searched the school before finding him in the van.

Emergency crews were called but authorities said the child died in the van, where the recorded temperature was 113 degrees.

"The next thing I know, a few hours later the dad and the owner came out and was crying," witness Kenneth Brooks told KTRK-TV. "When EMS had him, he was just limp, you know. Right there, I knew the kid was gone. It's a sad day."

Rosen said the driver and chaperone could face criminal charges.

"This was really just gross negligence," he said, according to the Houston Chronicle. "As a result, a child lost his life."

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KTRK-TV reported the Discovering Me Academy has been cited in the past, including once in 2015 for not having an electronic safety alarm to let drivers know if a child is left in the van.

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