An unknown thief stole a car in Saudi Arabia while a three-year-old girl was asleep in the back seat before dumping the child in another area.

The girl’s father has just stopped his car and went into a shop in the eastern port of Dammam on Sunday night, leaving the engine on.

“A thief got into the car and drove away. Police mounted a search drive before receiving a call from a Saudi man just after midnight saying he has just found the child near his house,” Sabq Arabic language daily said, adding that police were still searching for the car and the thief.