The Police Command in Niger, has confirmed the death of five children by suffocation in a car on Sunday in Minna.

Three of the children are from the same parents, along with two others aged 5 to 10, tragically died of suffocation in an abandoned Honda Civic with Registration No. GO 778 ABC in Niger State.

The heartbreaking incident occurred on Sunday in the Gurara Albishir area on Bida Road. According to an eyewitness named Bala Usman, the children, who were playing in a nearby large compound, accidentally locked themselves inside the car, which had been abandoned for two years.

DSP Wasiu Abiodun, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Niger, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Minna.

He said that the Kpakungu Division Office of the Police Command received report at about 6.30 p.m. on Sunday that five children between the ages five and 13 years were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle with registration No. GO 778 ABC at Gurara Albishir area of Minna.

Abiodun said that the children were found to have suffocated in the vehicle, while their bodies were later removed by the various parents, as police visited the scene.

“They tried to open the car, but it refused to open and so they gave up trying. The car has been parked there for about two years by the owner.

“They may have mistakenly locked themselves up from around 11 am while the parents were searching for them, only to discover their dead bodies in the car around 4 pm after fruitlessly looking everywhere around the vicinity,” Usman said.

The PPRO said that the owner of the vehicle had been invited for questioning and investigation was ongoing on the matter.

Meanwhile, a source in the neighborhood who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the children had  mistakenly locked themselves in the car, which had been abandoned for more than two years by the owner.

He said that the parents later discovered their bodies in car on Sunday evening after searching for them for hours in the vicinity.

According to the source, the victims comprised four females and a male, three siblings and the two others from  different parents including the car owner’s child.