Subway restaurant workers find children unattended in hot van

Employees of a Subway restaurant in Winnipeg say they were shocked to see two children left unattended inside a van on a hot day.

The temperature was 29 C when the children were spotted inside a van that was parked outside the Subway on Notre Dame Avenue around 2 p.m. Monday. With the humidex, it felt more like 38.

Roger Dorion, who works at the restaurant, said he saw a child sleeping in a car seat and a young boy sitting inside the van, which had its windows open.

The vehicle had been parked outside the restaurant for about 15 minutes by the time the restaurant's manager called police, Dorion said.

"The kids were like left there for so long and I don't know what the father was doing that he had to stay away for so long," he told CBC News late Monday.

"It's a risk to their health, and especially in this heat."

Dorion said the manager stayed outside with the children after calling police.

The children's father returned to the van nearly 15 minutes after officers arrived, he added.

Police told CBC News they spoke with the father and issued a warning, but no charges were laid.