2 kids found dead were playing before getting trapped in abandoned car

Santo Tomas Police have gathered CCTV footage that was able to record the final moments of the two children found dead inside an abandoned car in Barangay Moras Dela Paz, Santo Tomas, Pampanga.

According to a 24 Oras report by Joanne Ponsoy on Tuesday, CCTV footage showed that 6-year-old victims James and 5-year-old Bong were running around an open parking space just 500 meters from their house.

The two children can be seen running and entering an abandoned van, just before moving to an abandoned car.

“Nakita namin ‘yung dalawang bata na sila lang pumasok doon sa open parking space na ‘yun… Mga 2 to 3 minutes sila doon [sa kotse bago] lumipat sila sa kotse kung saan sila natagpuan. Until nag-review kami ng 2 hours, walang lumabas,” said Santo Tomas Police chief Police Captain Jester Calis.

(We saw that the two kids were the only ones to enter that open parking space… They stayed [in that car] for 2 to 3 minutes [before] they moved to the car where they were found. We reviewed up to 2 hours, no one left)

Police added that the last car they entered may have been unlocked, but the doors were all broken from the inside.

“Doon sa driver side, nakabukas. Doon sila pumasok. Siguro noong naglaro sila, hinila nila, [at] hindi na nila mabuksan. Mabubuksan lang ‘yun from the outside,” said Calis.

(It was open on the driver’s side. They entered through there. They probably pulled it while playing [and] couldn’t open it again. It could only be reopened from the outside)

Autopsy results and the death certificate also showed that the children died from suffocation or the loss of air.

“Sabi ng doktor na nakausap, kumbaga ‘yung tao na-suffocate sa ganyang closed na sasakyan, pinakamabilis siyang mawawalan ng malay, mamatay, ma-suffocate is 10 minutes,” Calis added.

(According to the doctor that we talked to, the quickest time that people can lose consciousness, die, and suffocate in closed cards is 10 minutes)

Police will continue to hold further investigations on who may be held liable for the incident. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/NB, GMA Integrated News