Police are investigating a case of culpable homicide after an 18-month-old boy was struck and killed by a bakkie driven by his father in Lynnwood Glen.

Police provided details about the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, which occurred at a home at about 14:39 on Wednesday (August 12).

High-speed rush to hospital

Police spokesperson Captain Johan van Dyk said officers were travelling along Atterbury Road in Faerie Glen when they were overtaken at high speed by a silver Toyota double-cab bakkie.

“The officers followed the vehicle until it stopped at the entrance to Life Faerie Glen Hospital, at the intersection of Atterbury Road and Jacqueline Street,” said Van Dyk.

Van Dyk said the driver got out of the vehicle in an emotional state and told the officers he was rushing his 18-month-old son to hospital for medical treatment.

The man identified himself as the child’s father.

According to Van Dyk, the father told police that he had been driving the double-cab bakkie inside the yard of his home in Lynnwood Glen when he accidentally struck his son.

Emergency responders called

The child sustained head injuries in the incident.

Upon arrival at Life Faerie Glen Hospital, the boy was attended to by medical personnel but was subsequently declared dead.

The Volunteer Emergency Medical Response Unit said it received a call shortly before 15:00 about a baby who had been struck by a vehicle in Lynnwood Glen.

VEMRU responders arrived at the hospital and found the child on the back seat of a vehicle after he had been rushed there.

“Despite the efforts of multiple practitioners, the injuries sustained were fatal and the patient was declared deceased,” VEMRU said.

Van Dyk confirmed that Brooklyn SAPS is investigating a case of culpable homicide.

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