3-Year-Old Child Dies Allegedly After Swallowing Firecrackers At Home

A 3-year-old child in India died after he allegedly swallowed fire crackers, his family said.

The child’s father had purchased the crackers for bursting during the festival of Diwali, but the boy allegedly accidentally ate it, media outlet DeshGujarat reported. However, authorities are yet to confirm the exact cause of death.

The boy complained of health issues three days before his death, and was suffering from fever, vomiting and diarrhea, The Times of India reported.

On Wednesday, he was brought to a hospital in Surat, a city in the western state of Gujarat. The doctors there later declared him dead.

Family members said they found a fire cracker in the boy’s vomit, which made them believe he may have swallowed the “pop-pop.” The exact date when the boy likely swallowed the cracker was not known.

The police said they have sent the child’s body for an autopsy. Doctors have collected samples to determine what caused the child’s severe health complications.

“It is yet not clear if the boy died due to swallowing some type of cracker. Only chemical analysis findings will confirm the exact cause,” an officer at a local police station told The Times of India.

The victim, identified by his first name Shaurya, lived with his father, mother and a 2-year-old sibling. Authorities have not confirmed if they have filed a complaint in connection to the incident.

In July, a 3-year-old child miraculously survived after swallowing a nearly 2-inch-long figurine while playing with it. The boy reportedly suffered severe pain in his upper chest and had difficulty swallowing saliva. The child's parents rushed him to a hospital in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru. At the hospital, a chest and neck X-ray was performed, which confirmed the presence of a type of foreign body. Doctors then removed the figurine using a flexible endoscopic approach. During the procedure, the doctors pushed the object from the food pipe to the stomach and removed it. The boy was kept under observation for a few hours before being discharged.