Folding table kills infant

Press, 21 January 1984, Page 1

Folding table kills infant

A boy, aged four, was killed when he became caught in a collapsible garden table in Riccarton yesterday. Constable Donald Fisher, of the Christchurch police, shows where the boy’s body was trapped in the folding leg mechanism of the small, round, metal table, which had been lying on its top on a lawn. < The boy had been staying

with friends of his family in Hanrahan Street, Riccarton. His name had not been released late last evening, pending notification of his next-of-kin. Constable Fisher said that the boy had apparently been playing among the legs of the upside-down table when the mechanism folded up under his weight, trapping him across the chest.

The police and an ambulance were called after the boy was found about 3.15 p.m., but he was found to be dead on arrival at Christchurch Hospital. A police spokesman said it was likely that there were more of the older, heavilybuilt garden tables about He urged parents to take note of the danger they could pose to young children.