A 2-year-old boy died on his way to Northdale Hospital after he was hit by a 4×4 driven by a firefighter at the New Hanover fire station on Sunday morning.
The chief officer of the uMgungundlovu district municipality’s fire department, Billy Paton, said it was a freak accident that led to the death of Lusanda Chonco.
“Our officer on standby cleaned the vehicle and locked the doors of the fire station.
“He got into the car and started to reverse because at the time he thought there was nobody besides him at the station,” said Paton.
He said the fireman realised that he had bumped into something and when he got out, it was the toddler.
Paton said they suspect that the toddler had strayed from his parents, who were about 50m away from where the accident happened, and gone into the fire station without the officer seeing him.
Police spokesperson Thulani Zwane confirmed the incident and said a case of culpable homicide has been opened.
[Story by Thobani Ngoulunga, The Witness]