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Two babies were found dead in a vehicle outside of a South Carolina daycare.
The twin male infants were discovered outside the Sunshine House Early Learning Academy shortly after 5:30 p.m., WLTX reported. The academy is an educational daycare, pre-school and after-school for kids aged 6 weeks to 12 years. Its brand operates over 100 daycares in nine states.
It's unclear if the infants attended the academy. It's also unclear if academy workers were in any way involved with their deaths, deputies with the Richland County Sheriff's Office said. The investigation remains ongoing.
The parking lot was filled with screaming and crying shortly after the infants were discovered, WACH reporter Shay Simon wrote in a Wednesday evening tweet.
The cause of death has not yet been announced. However, social media users have speculated whether the vehicle's internal temperature inside may have played a role.
Richland County reached a high of 83 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday evening. A temperature above 80 degrees can cause the inside of a car to reach up to 109 degrees within 20 minutes. Over an hour, 83-degree weather can cause a car's internal temperature to go above 125 degrees.
A child's body heats up three to five times faster than an adult's does, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). This is because children's bodies are smaller, concentrating the heat in a smaller area. A child's major organs begin to shut down when their temperature reaches 104 degrees. A child can die when their temperature reaches 107 degrees, the AAP said.
"Children should never be left unattended in a car for even a short period of time," says Jennifer Stockburger, director of operations at Consumer Reports' Auto Test Center. "Even when it's not that hot outside, our test results show how quickly temperatures inside the car escalate, regardless of whether your car is light or dark."
Children inside cars can be at risk of overheating, even if the weather outside is pleasant. A car left in 70-degree weather can still heat up to 115 degrees internally.
The twin infants were the second and third children to be found dead inside a vehicle this year in South Carolina, according to the NoHeatStroke.org. The website contains a database on heat stroke deaths compiled by the Department of Meteorology & Climate Science at California's San Jose State University.
In June, a 3-year-old boy named Jacob Mutis died inside a car at a residence in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the website reported. As of 2021, South Carolina ranks 16th in the nation among states with the highest number of children who have died of heatstroke in cars between 1998 and 2020, the database showed.
The Sunshine House location where the infants were found is located in Richland County. The country resides within South Carolina's central region.
Newsweek contacted the Richland County Sheriff's Office for comment.
