Boy (4) dies after a gate fell on him

A four-year-old boy from Mpopoma suburb in Bulawayo died after a gate fell on him as he played outside a shop. The boy's grandmother Mylove Sibanda identified him as Senzokuhle Sibanda.  

She said the gate was recklessly placed by the owners of the shop.

"My grandson died after being hit by a gate while playing with his brother.

"The gate was not tied to anything and as he was trying to pull his toy underneath, the gate fell and hit him on the head. He became unconscious," said Sibanda.

She said the boy was rushed to Mpopoma Clinic where he was immediately transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital.

"At Mpilo he regained consciousness for a while but later started bleeding through the nose and mouth, which led to his death," said Sibanda.

The family said it was grieved after shop owners failed to send condolence messages.

"What pains me is that they did not even bother to show up and this makes us think that it was a planned thing," said Sibanda.

A shop attendant said people rushed when they heard the gate falling.

"We don't really know what happened as we were inside the shop. We only came out after we heard a gate falling and that is when we saw the boy in the arms of another boy and we rushed him home," said the attendant.

The incident happened on Monday last week and Senzokuhle was buried on Thursday.

Comment could not be obtained from the police yesterday.