SINGAPORE (THE NEW PAPER) - A three-month-old baby girl locked in a parked car on Thursday (March 22) was rescued after her father smashed a window of the vehicle with a hammer.

The baby was locked in a white BMW in the carpark behind Holland Village Market & Food Centre for 20 minutes before being rescued by her father.

In a statement, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the incident at about 11.50am. When SCDF officers arrived on the scene, the owner of the car had already gained access to his vehicle. SCDF added that the baby was safe and had no visible injuries.

According to Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao, the baby was locked in the BMW after her maid accidentally closed the only door that was open and triggered the auto-lock function.

At the time, the baby's parents were on a test drive and had left the car keys with their maid.

After the maid placed the baby in the back seat, she kept the keys in a bag on the front seat. While folding the baby pram, the maid accidentally knocked into the open door.

A florist at the wet market who only wanted to be known as Ms Huang told Wanbao that she saw the baby's parents, who looked to be in their 30s, running around screaming for help.

She said: "The father attempted to break the car window with a bat... but to no avail."

Passers-by sought help from a locksmith nearby but he was unable to help.

Upon hearing about the incident, Ms Huang's younger brother retrieved a hammer from their shop and lent it to the frantic father, who smashed the front door window.

Ms Huang, 50, said: "He wanted to break open the back door window. Thankfully, passers-by told him that he could hurt his baby and he broke the driver's window instead."