Toddler is found dead after 'being left inside nursery minibus for seven hours' in Portugal

By SOPHIA STANFORD, NEWS REPORTER and NATALIE PENZA Published: 01:21, 24 July 2026 | Updated: 01:21, 24 July 2026 A toddler has died after reportedly being left inside a nursery minibus in Portugal for an estimated seven hours in scorching temperatures. The 18-month-old girl is said to have been 'forgotten' inside the vehicle in Almada with desperate attempts to revive her by emergency medical responders proving unsuccessful. The child's grandmother told a local paper that the little girl, who has so far been identified only by her first name of Sofia, was handed over at around 8am this morning to a worker who was supposed to take her to daycare. The alarm was sounded after the toddler's mum went to pick her up from the nursery, based on the southern bank of the Tagus River, directly opposite the capital Lisbon, in the afternoon and discovered she wasn't there. Paramedics and police were alerted just before 4pm this afternoon, with local temperature peaking at around 27C (81F), when the child was discovered in a 'critical condition'. The van was reportedly parked in front of a different daycare to the one Sofia attended.  Her death was announced at the scene and a police investigation has been launched.  The child's gran told Portuguese tabloid Correio da Manha: 'We don't know why my granddaughter was left in a van at this institution, which isn't hers. A toddler has died after reportedly being left inside a nursery minibus in Almada (pictured), Portugal, for an estimated seven hours in scorching temperatures 'The person who had the van killed my granddaughter.' The creche the van belonged to has been named locally as Colegio Mestre Cuco. There have been no reports of any arrests so far, although Portugal's Policia Judiciaria police force have been mobilised to take charge of the investigation. It comes only a month after two children, aged two and four, were found dead in their family's car in the town of Carpentras in southeastern France as Europe endured a ferocious heatwave. Much of the continent is still suffering in the unbearable heat, with the mercury hitting 40C (104F) in certain parts of France, Spain and Italy. France’s public health agency on Wednesday said the country recorded at least 5,700 more deaths than usual during a historic heatwave last month.  The blistering temperature has also contributed to extensive wildfires across much of the Mediterranean that have killed more than a dozen people, with the heat drying out the foliage and making it susceptible to fast-spreading flames.  In September 2023, 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 ten-month-old child's father, described at the time locally as a lecturer and departmental head at the Nova School of Science and Technology 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 on the Caparica Campus in Almada. Efforts to revive her proved unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the scene. In May last year, a three-year-old boy died in a popular Spanish tourist town after being found trapped inside a parked car in 27C (81F). Emergency responders including police and paramedics were sent to the scene in Linares in the Andalucian province of Jaen after a 999 call from a member of the public. They tried to revive him for several minutes after freeing him from the vehicle and discovering he didn't have a heartbeat. The child was then rushed to a local hospital where he was certified dead.