Six-year-old boy collapses, dies while playing in Mumbai school

CCTV footage shows Swarang Ratnadeep Dalvi, a Class 1 student of Pawar Public School, running around and suddenly falling while playing with other boys at the school

A six-year-old boy collapsed while playing with his friends in a school in Chandivli, Andheri (East) on Thursday morning. The Sakinaka police have ruled out foul play but say they will probe all angles to find out if anyone can be held negligent for his death.

Forensic experts suspect he died of an airway block. (Pic for Representation)

The police said CCTV footage shows Swarang Ratnadeep Dalvi, a Class 1 student of Pawar Public School, running around and suddenly falling while playing with other boys at the school. While the police said the boy had slight fever and may have been suffering from pneumonia, his parents said he just had a throat infection.DCP, zone X, ND Reddy told HT, “We will probe all angles to find out if there is anything suspicious. An accidental death report has been registered.”

The school administration said the incident took place right after a short break at 10am. “Students were all going back to their classes and that’s when Swarang collapsed in the corridor outside his class. He was immediately attended by our in-house medical officer,” said Madhura Phadke, principal of the school. “Since the child was not responding to initial treatment, we decided to rush him to Hiranandani Hospital.” He was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.

Forensic experts suspect he died of an airway block. “There were no major injury marks on the body which could contribute to the death of the boy. But we found congestion in his chest and respiratory tract which reveals the possibility of a fatal airway block,” said experts.

The experts added that samples of stomach wash and viscera had been sent to Kalina Forensic Laboratory, and the reports will determine the cause of death.