Avatar photo

By Arisja Misselhorn

Journalist


Rustenburg parents accidentally lock baby in car

Jelani Security and ER24 took extra precaution not to let the window shatter into the car and injure the child.


The mother of an 18-month-old baby was crying with relief when rescue workers handed him back to her on Monday morning, Ridge Times reports.

The young family from Rustenburg parked their car in front of Five Star Super Spar on Nelson Mandela Drive. As the parents climbed out and were about to get their son from the back seat, the car door locked automatically.

READ MORE: Paramedics warn of heat danger to unattended children in locked cars in the sun

The key was still in the ignition and the couple struggled to open the doors.

Several strangers tried to help to open the car. The child became petrified with all the commotion outside and was screaming when Alf Byleveldt from Jelani Security and André Momberg from ER24 arrived on the scene.

“We realised that the car, a Kia, cannot easily be opened with a wire tool, so we used a rescue tool to knock out the right back door window,” Mr Byleveldt explained.

The two took extra precaution not to let the window shatter into the car and injure the child.

“The parents did not mind the knocked-out window. They were just very thankful to get to their baby and to comfort him.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android

Read more on these topics

baby car Rustenburg

Access premium news and stories

Access to the top content, vouchers and other member only benefits