5-yr-old crushed to death after iron gate collapses on him

NOIDA: A five-year-old boy died after a heavy iron gate collapsed on him while he was playing near his home in Noida’s Gejha village on Sunday morning, police and family members said on Monday

NOIDA: A five-year-old boy died after a heavy iron gate collapsed on him while he was playing near his home in Noida’s Gejha village on Sunday morning, police and family members said on Monday.

According to residents, the child was playing around 9.20am when he climbed onto a large gate installed at a neighbouring residential building. Moments later, the gate gave way and crashed onto him, leaving him critically injured. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The incident was captured on a CCTV camera installed at a nearby hotel in the area.

According to residents, the child was playing around 9.20am when he climbed onto a large gate installed at a neighbouring residential building. Moments later, the gate gave way and crashed onto him, leaving him critically injured.

People living nearby rushed to the spot on hearing a loud noise and pulled the child out from beneath the gate. His family members along with neighbours rushed him to a private hospital in the area, where doctors declared him “dead”after trying to revive him, his family members told HT.

The child’s father, alocal driver, who lives a few buildings away from the site, said he does not hold anyone responsible for the tragedy. “We have not filed any case against anyone because nobody is at fault in this. If you watch the CCTV footage carefully, there is nobody around him. He was playing alone when the gate suddenly fell,” the man said.

“The CCTV camera was installed at the hotel opposite to the residential building resided by tenants. I was on duty when it happened. My sister rushed him to the hospital immediately,” he added.

Kumar said he realised the severity of the accident after seeing the footage himself. “When we saw the blood and the video, we understood that our child had probably died there itself. In the footage, he moved his hand once or twice after the gate fell. At the hospital, doctors tried. But there was no benefit. They told us he had died,” he said.

The grieving father said that it was a “a tragedy that was perhaps destined to happen”.

Local residents alleged that the gate was old and structurally weak, raising concerns over maintenance of heavy iron structures in densely populated residential areas.

The deceased is survived by his parents, a two-and-a-half year old brother.