In the middle of a heatwave, an autistic child was found locked in a room padlocked from the outside, an investigation was opened.

The child had autism spectrum disorder, and the apartment was overheating due to the heatwave. Late Friday evening, June 27, Paris emergency services assisted a 10-year-old child locked in an overheated room without a fan or air conditioning.

An investigation opened

They had been called by a neighbor who was concerned about hearing what sounded like a child crying. They arrived and discovered the young boy locked in the room, in a stifling atmosphere; the door had been locked and padlocked from the outside.

"The emergency services said it was unbreathable, that there was no air conditioning or fan," a neighbor told Le Parisien. The child was taken into care and hospitalized, and according to initial investigations, his father, who was traveling abroad, had entrusted him to a nanny.

The latter was not at home when emergency services arrived. An investigation into child neglect has been opened, according to the Paris prosecutor's office.