A four-year-old Jewish child died after being left in a hot vehicle for hours Tuesday.

The child, who belonged to a Haredi family in Valley Village in Los Angeles, Calif., was being driven to school as part of a regular transportation route, but remained in the car at drop-off. The driver, believing the car was empty, parked the vehicle and left.

The fatal error was only discovered when the mother came to pick her up and was told that her child had not attended school that day. Emergency responders rushed to the scene to free the trapped child, who had been unable to free herself and get out of the car, but by then it was too late.

This incident follows other such tragic accidents of small children and babies left in hot cars to perish. To prevent such tragedies, safety experts recommend putting a personal safety item in the back that must be retrieved upon arrival, reminding the driver of backseat passengers. Other preventive measures include performing a head count and installing an alert system on car seats.