A three-year-old girl suffocated to death inside a stranger’s car after she climbed inside, thinking it belonged to her grandfather.

She had hoped he would take her to buy sweets, but was trapped when the owner then locked the doors, leaving her trapped in the hot sun.

The girl, who was identified only as Khadija, was found dead inside the car near her home in Toukh, in northern Egypt’s Qalyubia Governorate, on the afternoon of 12th May.

Little Khadija became trapped in the stranger’s car that was parked close to her house after she sneaked inside during playing.

She apparently thought it belonged to her grandfather, where she would often hop in while he took her to buy her some sweets.

But as she seemingly grew tired from running around in the warm weather, Khadija dozed off on the seats.

Meanwhile, the car’s owner – identified only 32-year-old M.A. – failed to notice the little girl sleeping inside and closed the car doors as he went to a mosque for the afternoon prayers.

The child later woke up but did not know how the open the car doors from the inside, and she remained stuck inside until she suffocated to death.

A few hours later, her worried family noticed she had still not returned and began searching for her.

After hours of searching, the family went to the Toukh police station to file a report on the disappearance of their child, and the police forces quickly moved and formed a search team to find the child.

As investigators checked nearby surveillance cameras, they were shocked to see the girl walk into the car and never walk back out.

Police rushed to the scene and found the girl’s lifeless body inside the hot car.

Her body was handed over to forensic experts, where an autopsy revealed the girl had no signs of injury and had died of suffocation.

Police spoke to the car owner, who admitted he closed the doors while in a rush and did not see the girl inside.

The Public Prosecution later authorised the body be buried, as there was no evidence of a criminal incident.