The Tribune

By RIEL MAJOR

MINISTRY of Health employees had to forcibly open the window of a car on Friday to rescue an infant who had been left unattended in the government agency’s parking lot, according to Health Minister Dr Duane Sands.

A video went viral on social media on Friday showing the infant locked in a car alone with the windows rolled up. Over the course of the 39-second video, the infant is seen in the back seat of the vehicle strapped in a car seat.

The video was posted in a local Facebook group and had 175 comments and 134 shares up to press time.

At the beginning of the clip, the reflection of a man is seen using his cellphone to record the incident.

The man recording the video can be heard saying: "There is a baby inside of this car hollering. This is a baby locked in this car hollering.

"The car screw right up. It's a baby look...this is a baby inside this car crying...the car frigging hot...in Ministry of Health parking lot a frigging young baby. A young flicking baby in the car (sic)."

When contacted about the incident, Dr Sands said on Friday that someone came up to the administrative office about the situation and officials gave instructions and permission to break into the car to get the baby out.

He said: "Subsequently the father of the child showed up and was detained by the police. I'm amazed this story has gone this viral because things turned out pretty good. Luckily, but I guess it's a good thing but by the time as this video came around the problem was already resolved.”

He said two Ministry of Health employees "forcibly opened" the car's window to rescue the baby.

The Tribune made numerous attempts to contact the Royal Bahamas Police Force for a comment, but efforts were unsuccessful up to press time.