Saudi authorities have launched an investigation into a video making rounds on social media, showing two children locked in a parked car under the sun.
The shocking footage was filmed by an unknown person who happened to pass by the vehicle and saw, a three-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister while they are held inside a car for a long time.
The children were later identified as Wa’el and his sister Jawaher.
The anonymous rescuer continued to film the two children when they finally got off the car and seemed extremely exhausted. They had difficulty breathing and collapsed on the ground. They then started crying and the girl started to vomit, having endured the high summer temperature for too long.
The video, which also shows them heading towards their home near the location where they were stuck inside the car, was widely circulated on social media amid requests to investigate the incident and hold their parents accountable.
رواج مقطع لشخص يعثر على طفلين في سيارة مغلقة وهم في حالة سيئة، ووحدة الحماية الأسرية تحقق في الواقعة للوصول إليهم، وتطبيق نظام حماية الطفل بحق المتسببين. pic.twitter.com/DJmM3Ewgx4
— وش سالفة الهاشتاق (@Salfhtag) July 11, 2020
The family protection unit quickly responded by launching an investigation into the incident and explore the scope of implementing child protection laws against the parents.
The ministry has coordinated with competent authorities to identify the children’s identity and reach their family with an aim to enforce the child protection law against negligent parents.
The Family Protection Unit, which is investigating the incident, urged community members to report any case of child abuse by calling the domestic violence Centre on 1919.
