A seven month-old-infant has died after being left in a car for five hours during a heatwave.

The child was found in an “unresponsive” state in her father’s car after 1pm on Thursday in the village of Dundrum in west Co Tipperary.

4 The incident took place in Dundrum, Tipperary

Gardaí confirmed that they attended the scene after a 999 call was made, as did other emergency service personnel.

The child was airlifted to University Hospital Limerick in a critical condition but died a short time later.

The seven-month-old is the child of a young couple who live in the Tipperary area.

Gardai confirmed that the child had passed away.

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The child was to have been left with the child-minder at 8.30am but she was discovered unresponsive in the back of the car at 1.30pm.

Distraught family members were tonight being comforted by relatives, friends and neighbours in west Tipperary.

A source said that everyone is absolutely devastated and heartbroken over the death of the little girl.

4 Dundrum, Tipperary, where the tragic incident accounted earlier today

He said: "The weather in Tipperary today was unbelievably hot and sunny. The car was park in an open space where it did not have the protection from the sun.

"The little girl was unresponsive when taken from the vehicle. Paramedics, who were called to the scene along with gardai worked to save her.

"She was in such a bad condition the air ambulance was called and took the baby to University Hospital Limerick where a trauma team was waiting for her on arrival.

"They worked so hard to save her, but she was pronounced dead at 5pm."

The air ambulance landed in Kickham's GAA pitch in Limerick and the child was rushed by ambulance to the hospital.

4 The infant was brought to University Hospital Limerick

According to experts, children left in cars suffer from Vehicular Heat Stroke and can die even after being left in a car in extreme heat for just an hour.

The temperatures inside a vehicle are far more extreme than outside temperatures.

One local said: "This is such a terrible tragedy for everyone but especially for the parents of the baby.

"This is every parent's nightmare".

Gardai are investigating the tragedy but are understood to be treating it as an extremely tragic accident.

It is highly unlikely that any charges will result from the death of the infant, but a file will be prepared for the Coroner's office.

A postmortem is expected to be carried out in the hospital tomorrow.

4 The main street in Dundrum village

Local Sinn Fein councillor Martin Browne offered his deepest sympathies to the parents of the little girl saying it was his hope now that the local community rally around them.

He said: “I just hope that they’re able to get the support and privacy they’ll need now during this terrible time."

According to the website KidsAndCars such tragedies occur many times, but it is believed this could be a first for Ireland where temperatures do not usually soar to extreme temperatures.

However, in the US there have already been six such deaths to date this year. The last one was in April when a toddler who was almost two was left in a car for five hours in high temperatures.

This death happened in a city in Texas while another involving a one year old happened after an hour in a car in Florida.

In 2016, 39 children died in this way and the highest number recorded in a single year was in 2010 when 49 children died.

The website has many guidelines on what to do when there is a young child in a car in particularly hot weather.

They are also campaigning to have vehicles equipped with a system that would alert drivers if children, particularly infants are left in cars.