Ohio teen suffocates in car despite calls to police

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A county prosecutor in the American state of Ohio is investigating the case of a teenage boy who suffocated to death without receiving help despite calling 911 twice when trapped by a minivan bench seat.

According to reports, 16-year-old Kyle Plush called for help seemingly by using Apple iPhone's Siri voice activation at 3:14 pm last Tuesday when he was struck by the backseat of his Honda minivan at a parking lot at his high school.

The illustration shows the teenager trapped in the car. /Screenshot from a video released by btime

Cincinnati police were dispatched immediately but unable to locate the desperate victim after 11 minutes.

Plush called 911 again at 3:35 pm, explaining his location, the make and the color of his car.

However, the important information was not relayed to the police on the scene for some unknown reason.

Map of the parking lot. / Photo from Cincinnati Police Twitter account

"I probably don’t have much time left. Tell my mom I love her if I die," said Kyle Plush in his second phone call, according to 911 audio obtained by The Washington Post.

The boy was found non-responsive almost five hours later at night by his family.

Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac admitted at a news conference last Thursday that “something has gone terribly wrong."

He added: “I'm not certain at this point if we're talking about an equipment malfunction or some type of user error possibly."

The Honda minivan the boy was trapped in. /Photo from Cincinnati Police

The second call-taker, identified as Amber Smith, is on administrative leave pending an investigation.

At the same time, a Honda spokesperson said the vehicle – a 2004 Odyssey – has never been recalled for seat-related problems.