Two communities have been plunged into grief following the =deaths of two toddlers in separate choking incidents.
The two tragic incidents happened in Skibbereen, Co Cork and also in Co Wicklow.
In Cork on Wednesday, a young boy choked to death on a piece of fruit at his family home. It has been described as a “devastating tragedy”.
Separately, in Co Wicklow a child aged about two years old, became ill after complications when eating food in a creche.
In the Cork incident, the young boy – who was aged between two and three – was in the kitchen of his home in Skibbereen when he got into difficulty after swallowing the fruit.
The alarm was raised and emergency services rushed to the scene. Gardaí arrived shortly after 9pm and paramedics performed CPR on the young boy.
Despite the frantic efforts of the emergency services to save him, the little boy died at the scene.
In a statement, gardaí said they were treating the death as a tragic accident and that foul play was not suspected.
“The coroner (for west Cork) has been notified and a post-mortem will be held at Cork University Hospital,” gardaí said.
“Gardaí are currently treating the death as a tragic accident and foul play is not suspected.
“Owing to the tragic nature of the incident, no further information is available.”
In the Co Wicklow tragedy, it is understood that complications developed after the child ate some food at a creche.
An ambulance was called and the child was taken to Crumlin children’s hospital in Dublin, but was later pronounced dead.
No foul play or negligence is suspected.
The child’s family are described as being “extremely devastated” about the tragedy.
