Melbourne boy, 9, dies after getting trapped in garage door
A young boy has died and another has been hospitalised with serious injuries after getting trapped in a garage door in Melbourne's southwest.
Paramedics and police were called to a home on Mason Street in Newport about 7.30pm on Saturday after reports the two boys were stuck in the roller door in the driveway of a unit block.
One was rushed to the Royal Children's Hospital but the other boy, identified as Abdul Razack Tarawaley, 9, died at the scene despite the best efforts of paramedics. The boy’s heartbroken dad, who shares the same name, told the Herald Sun he was the one to discover his only child crushed at the top of the automated gate.
The nine-year-old had been playing with a friend in the carpark and the pair were climbing on the gate when it suddenly opened, the publication reports.
Mr Tarawaley said he stumbled upon the tragic scene when he went to check on the kids. “I tried to pull down the gate but I can’t because it’s too big, it’s too heavy,” he told the publication. “I touched his head, I touched his fingers, all is cold.”
Mr Tarawaley described his son — who was going to turn 10 in two weeks — as a “lovely man” who dreamed of becoming a doctor. Police are investigating the tragedy but say they are not treating it as suspicious. The second boy’s identity and age have yet to be revealed.
Tributes flow for nine-year-old boy
Hundreds of people have taken to Mr Tarawaley’s Facebook page to pay tribute to the young boy, who went by the nickname “Junior”. “Why so soon?” the boy’s grieving dad captioned an image of the nine-year-old.
“This is a huge tragedy,” one person wrote, while numerous “devastated” others offered their condolences. One man said his heart was “weeping”. “I’m so sorry to hear this my brother. I’m in shock,” another wrote. “May his gentle soul rest in peace,” someone else said.
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