A two-year-old child tragically dies while taking a nap in a daycare center in Gelsenkirchen. Presumably the little one suffocated. Just one day later, on Tuesday, a five-year-old dies – also in a daycare center.
Gelsenkirchen / Lemgo – Two small children died in tragic accidents in daycare centers in North Rhine-Westphalia on two consecutive days.
On Monday, a two-year-old died in a Gelsenkirchen facility while taking an afternoon nap. Investigators believe he may have suffocated after trapping his head in a bunk bed.
On Tuesday lunchtime another tragic accident occurred on the premises of a daycare center in Lemgo (Lippe district) in which a five-year-old was injured so seriously that he died. According to the police’s previous knowledge, he had been playing on a vehicle trailer with a tilting loading area parked on the outdoor area and had been trapped between the tipping device and the chassis of the trailer. The alarmed rescue workers were able to free the boy, but he died of his serious injuries at the scene of the accident.
Investigation started
The police are investigating after both tragic accidents. In particular, the exact circumstances that led to the death of the five-year-old in Lemgo were initially unclear, according to the police spokesman. The criminal investigation is just beginning. It is still unclear why the two by three meter trailer was parked on the outdoor area of the day care center in the Lemgo district of Lieme. He was confiscated for closer investigation. The exact sequence of events is still unclear, it said on Tuesday evening.
The rescue workers were alerted at 12:20 p.m. They were able to free the boy, but no longer save them. Relatives of the boy, kindergarten children, daycare workers and rescue workers involved were then looked after by pastors.
The exact cause of death of the child in the Gelsenkirchen facility has not yet been confirmed by an autopsy, as a city spokesman said on Tuesday. The posture in which the boy was found confirms the suspicion that he was trapped and suffocated.
The boy had been lying down in the bunk bed during his afternoon nap and obviously pushed up the bottom plate of the bed above. Then his head was probably wedged between the bed frame and the bottom plate of the upper bed, said the city spokesman. The whole thing happened silently. The educators who were sitting in front of the relaxation room hadn’t heard anything.
The bunk beds are high-quality furniture specially offered for day-care centers. The city has similar beds in many daycare centers. All had been examined, the bottom plate of the upper bed was solid everywhere – only obviously not in the case of the unfortunate bed, said the spokesman. The bed is more than ten years old.
Educators had found the boy lifeless on Monday after an afternoon nap in the facility. He had been reanimated but died shortly afterwards. dpa
