SEREMBAN: An autistic child was found dead after being left in a van for a few hours at Taman Nusari Bayu 2, Bandar Sri Sendayan here yesterday,

Seremban district police chief ACP Mohd Said Ibrahim said the police received a report on the death of the eight-year-old girl at 7.46 pm.

"Investigation found that the 34-year-old van driver should have sent the girl to a Day Care Center in Taman Nusari Aman. However, the driver returned home without realising the victim was still in the van," he said in a statement here today.

He said the girl was believed to have been in the van since 2.30 pm before she was found unconscious at about 5.30 pm and then taken to Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Mohd Said said police are waiting for the post-mortem report to determine the actual cause of the girl's death and that the van driver had been arrested to facilitate investigation under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Child Act 2001.

-- BERNAMA