The mother of an eight-year-old boy who was found unresponsive in her car outside a primary school in Melbourne's west on Monday did not know he had climbed into the back and hidden.
Victoria Police yesterday said the boy's mother had dropped her children at school in the morning, drove to work and parked her car, not knowing the boy was still inside.
The boy was found about 2:40pm in a black people mover after emergency services responded to her reports of a child trapped inside a vehicle on Maddox Street in Newport, near Newport Gardens Primary School.
He remains in a critical condition at the Royal Children's Hospital.
The incident is being treated as an accident by Victoria Police.
In a statement, the Education Department said it was providing support and counselling to the family of the child and members of the school community who were impacted by "this horrible incident".
"Our thoughts are with the family at this very difficult time. On behalf of the school we request that the media respect the family's privacy," the statement from the department said.
