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WATCH: Real story emerges after ‘hot car rescue’ video goes viral

Posted at 1:21 PM, Jul 16, 2014
and last updated 2014-07-16 13:25:30-04

KATY, Texas – The full story behind a dramatic video of strangers smashing a car window to rescue children locked inside a hot car is different from initial impressions, according to a new report from KHOU.

People rushed to help Monday when they saw the kids inside the SUV. KHOU originally reported that shoppers heard the children in the hot car after the mother apparently left them in the vehicle while she was getting a haircut.

However, surveillance video shows the mom went into a postal store next door to the hair salon with her children, and after leaving the store, accidentally locking her keys – and kids – in the car.

The mother of the two children told KHOU that she called her insurance company and she was told it would take two hours to send someone to get the doors open.

The surveillance tape shows her walking into the postal store asking for help. A customer then grabs a hammer and breaks the vehicle’s window.

“It’s not like she left the kids in the car,” Azir Brohi, the owner of the postal store, told KHOU. “It’s not like she did something wrong. She was screaming trying to get the little girl to open the door.”

After the window was broken, the video shows the mother climbing through the window to rescue her kids.

The witness who shot the cell phone video and originally talked to KHOU denied the station’s request for a second interview.