A 14-month-old baby was found dead on Wednesday afternoon, forgotten in a car, in the car park of a company in the French town of Bordes, the Pau public prosecutor announced on Thursday.

The father of the child, an employee of the aeronautics company Safran, forgot to drop his baby off at the crèche in the morning before going to work.

"Initial investigations suggest that the young child died of suffocation and dehydration," said Pau public prosecutor Cecile Gensac in a statement.

The mother, noticing the absence of her child late Wednesday at the crèche in Assat, a commune on the outskirts of Pau and not far from the father's place of work, had given the alert.

Attempts to resuscitate the child by the fire brigade and a team from the ambulance service, who were immediately brought to the scene at around 5pm, proved futile. "No one had heard the slightest noise, as it is quite a big car park," the Pau public prosecutor said.

A flagrante delicto investigation for manslaughter was opened and entrusted to the Pau-Lescar research brigade.

The parents of the baby, "with no previous criminal record and parents of an older child", were transferred in a state of shock to Pau hospital. "No interviews could be carried out at this stage," Gensac said.

An autopsy is planned for Friday to determine the exact cause of death.

A psychological support unit has also been set up for the staff of the Assat crèche, which employs 26 people and accommodates around 80 children.

The crèche was closed on Thursday and will be closed again on Friday, said the mayor of the town, Jean-Christophe Rhaut. The other children have been redirected to nearby inter-communal structures, "and psychological support has also been made available for parents", according to the mayor of Assat.