Tragedy in Kiryat Gat: Toddler Chokes in Preschool

A three-year-old boy reportedly died on Sunday after choking to death on sand at a sandbox in a preschool in the southern city of Kiryat Gat.

“I got a phone call from a preschool teacher who said that one of the children playing in the sandbox was feeling ill, and had told [her] that sand had gone into his mouth,” United Hatzalah paramedic Chaim Matzliach said.

Matzliach, who was the first emergency responder on the scene, said the child was already unconscious when he arrived. MDA medics found the boy not breathing and without heartbeat. He was then rushed to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Police were investigating the possibility of negligence on the part of staff at the preschool, although that was not confirmed. The school’s employees were questioned by police but no one was detained.

As of late Sunday night, the time for a levayah had not yet been announced.