Forensic report for Arta infant lists pulmonary edema as cause of death

Accumulation of fluid in the lungs, which caused pulmonary edema, was listed as the cause of death in the forensic report released on Wednesday for the infant that died after having been forgotten by its father in the car for several hours.

The autopsy was carried out at the University Hospital of Ioannina, and it reports that the infant, aged 5,5 months, suffered suffocation, sweating, wheezing in the lungs, shortness of breath, cough, difficulty breathing, hypoxia, resulting in pulmonary edema that led to cardiac arrest due to hypoxemia, tachycardia and cyanosis.

The baby’s father, aged 37, will be prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter, the prosecutor of Arta had said on Tuesday.

The man was expected to leave the child, at the nursery station but forgot it in the back seat of the car. The tragic mistake was discovered when the mother, 27, went to the station to pick up the child. The parents rushed the unresponsive child to hospital where its death was confirmed.

Both parents were hospitalized under heavy sedation on Tuesday, with the father being guarded as well. [AMNA]