Investigators from the British Bases Police are expected to seek the assistance of mechanical engineers from BMW’s representative office in Cyprus in order to determine the circumstances under which two brothers, aged 10 and 8, became trapped inside their father’s car and, as is currently believed, died a horrific death from asphyxiation and hyperthermia.
The vehicle, a BMW, was parked outside the apartment in Xylofagou where the boys were staying with their 30-year-old father and his partner.
As the specific BMW model involved does not belong to the newer generation of vehicles equipped with advanced electronic access and safety systems, the investigation is focusing on the following key questions:
1. How did the children get into the vehicle?
Investigators are trying to establish how the two boys managed to enter the car, which, according to information gathered so far, was locked, while the keys were in the possession of their 30-year-old Bulgarian father, who was working at a construction site in Limassol.
2. Was there a fault with one of the rear doors?
Another line of inquiry concerns whether one of the rear doors may have been defective and failed to lock properly.
If that possibility is confirmed, it raises a further crucial question: how did the door ultimately become locked, trapping the two children inside the vehicle?
3. Was the child-lock system activated?
Investigators will also examine whether the vehicle’s child-lock system was engaged.
The system, which has been standard equipment in most vehicles since the 1990s, is designed to protect children while travelling. When activated, it prevents rear doors from being opened from the inside, even if the vehicle itself is unlocked.
The only way to exit is through the external door handle, provided the window has first been opened. However, when the central window lock is also activated, even that option is unavailable.
This mechanism is intended to prevent children from opening rear doors while a vehicle is in motion.
The child-lock switch is located inside the rear doors, in the area concealed when the door is closed, and can only be activated or deactivated while the door is open.
Depending on the vehicle model, the switch may be operated by hand, with a flat-head screwdriver or, in some cases, through a slot designed specifically for the vehicle key.
A Vehicle Can Become an Oven Within Minutes
Experts point out that temperatures inside a parked vehicle rise extremely quickly.
With outside temperatures reaching around 39°C, as they did on the day of the tragedy, temperatures inside the cabin can exceed 70°C within minutes, creating suffocating and potentially fatal conditions for anyone unable to escape.
A similar danger exists in extreme cold if someone becomes trapped inside a vehicle without a means of exit.
The Danger of Hidden Door Handles
The tragedy in Xylofagou is the first recorded case in Cyprus in which children have died after becoming trapped inside a vehicle.
In previous years, two infant deaths were recorded after children were accidentally left in vehicles by their parents and died from hyperthermia.
These incidents are associated with what is known as “forgotten baby syndrome”, a phenomenon that has become increasingly common internationally over the past two decades, particularly in the United States.
Only last March, following dozens of incidents involving passengers becoming trapped inside vehicles fitted with electronic flush-mounted or “hidden” door handles, the Road Transport Department issued a warning to owners of such vehicles.
The department warned that in the event of a power failure caused by a collision, fire or battery malfunction, the exterior door handles could become inoperable, making it impossible to open the doors from outside.
As a result, the department urged vehicle owners to familiarise themselves with the manual emergency-release mechanisms described in their owner’s manuals and to understand how doors can be opened when electrical power is unavailable.
Owners were also advised to:
- Identify the locations of manual emergency releases for both front and rear doors.
- Ensure that all regular users and passengers understand how the emergency-release system works.
- Regularly monitor the condition of the vehicle battery, as the proper operation of electronic door handles depends on it.
The Button That Can Save Lives
Modern vehicles are equipped with increasingly sophisticated safety systems, but few motorists are fully aware of all their capabilities or how useful they can prove in emergency situations.
Among these systems is a potentially life-saving emergency release mechanism designed to allow occupants to escape if trapped inside the vehicle.
Most modern cars feature an emergency release located in the luggage compartment. It is usually identified by a small symbol showing an open boot lid.
The mechanism is normally situated on the inside of the tailgate, concealed behind a small cover.
To access it from inside the vehicle, one of the rear seats must first be folded down. Once the protective cover is removed and the plastic release lever is moved in the correct direction, the manual release mechanism is activated and the boot opens, providing an emergency escape route.
In the Xylofagou tragedy, however, the victims were just 10 and 8 years old.
No one could reasonably expect two young children to know that such a mechanism existed, or how to operate it, even if the vehicle in question was equipped with one that might have allowed them to escape the deadly trap in which they found themselves.
