8-year-old dies in Spain after a 20 kg statue fell on him

An 8-year-old boy died on Friday afternoon at his home in the parish of Mareo, in the city of Gijón, Spain, after a garden statue weighing about 20 kilograms fell on him, causing severe trauma.

The child was playing in the garden with other family members when the sculpture hit him in the head. The impact caused a traumatic brain injury that left him lying on the grass. The statue is about one and a half meters tall and was on a pedestal of the same height.

Two ambulances from the Principality Health Service rushed to the scene, but the rescue team could not save the little boy's life, reports La Vanguardia.

The child’s mother, Maria Silva, claimed that the health team tried to resuscitate him, but they were unable to. "We are devastated," the family said moments after the accident.

"We are in shock, he leaned on the statue, and it fell on him," the family continued, adding that they had asked the estate owner to "remove the sculptures," according to El Comercio.

Silva and her partner, Carla González, said the boy was playing with his 10-year-old brother and 9-year-old aunt when the tragedy occurred.

"The older brother was there, and the little guy wanted to play with his nine-year-old aunt. At one point, he went to grab a grass to throw it to his aunt and he leaned a little on the statue and it hit him in the head," Gonzalez explained. "It's terrible, I can't say anything else just that my partner is devastated."

After the incident, Silva suffered a severe anxiety attack and had to receive immediate medical assistance. The mother refused to leave the farm, where the body of her son was found, and the body was not removed until the judge arrived to proceed with the removal of the corpse.

The property, known as the San Blas residence in Mareo, was rented by the child's mother after she moved to Gijón for work.