CNN
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A 5-year-old girl saved her little brother’s life after a car crash killed her parents, leaving three young children trapped in wreckage for more than two days in a remote part of rural Western Australia , CNN affiliate Nine News reported.
In a statement, Western Australia Police said the family’s Land Rover Discovery was found on Tuesday morning in Kondinin, around 280 kilometers (174 miles) east of the state capital, Perth .
Parents Cindy Braddock, 25, and Jake Day, 28, were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Their three children survived the crash but were left trapped in the vehicle with their deceased parents in scorching temperatures until discovered by a concerned family member.
The family of five – including the daughter and her two brothers, aged 2 and 1 – had been reported missing a day earlier when they failed to make it to a Christmas Day celebration, Nine reported News.
Parent Michael Read told Nine News the 5-year-old saved her youngest sibling’s life by freeing him from his child seat.
“If it hadn’t been for the 5-year-old who unbuckled the 1-year-old’s car seat, he wouldn’t be with us today,” Read said. “She probably won’t know for a few years.”
Their ordeal was made worse by the high temperatures, Read said.
“Basically, they were stuck in the car for 55 hours in 30 degrees Celsius (about 86 degrees Fahrenheit) heat,” he told Nine News. “Nobody knows what they went through.”
The children were taken to hospital with severe dehydration, police said.
They survived with non-life-threatening injuries and are expected to be discharged from hospital in the coming days, Nine News reported.
