Falling gate kills 10-month baby

A 10-month-old boy from Mkoba suburb in Gweru died of severe bleeding from the ears after he was hit by a sliding gate.

The tot, Romeo Hokoza, died on Saturday afternoon after a sliding gate fell and landed on his head resulting in him bleeding from the ears. According to a post mortem report, the child died due to severe bleeding from the head.

When a Chronicle news crew visited the boy's family house yesterday, relatives had gone to fetch the child's body from the hospital for burial. The boy's mother, Charity Tsingano , said she heard the banging noise of the falling gate and when she went outside to investigate, found her baby already unconscious.

"I left my child on the veranda and when I was in the house, I heard the noise of the falling gate. When I got outside l found a visitor holding my child who was unconscious," she said.

"I took my child to the bedroom after the visitor told me that as she closed the gate, it accidentally fell on him. We then took the child to the hospital and he died on arrival," said Tsingano.

The boy's father, Hlanganani Hokoza , said he received a phone call from his wife around 5pm informing him that his son had died. "I got a call from my wife at around 5pm on Saturday telling me that my son Romeo had been hit by a sliding gate and was taken to Gweru General Hospital where he died on admission," he said.