Boy, 11, dies after ladder mishap

A 11-year-old El Socorro boy died Wednesday evening from haemorrhaging after a mishap on a ladder around 2 pm. According to reports, Abdul Wakeer Mohammed, 11, was on a ladder painting his bedroom wall at his Shami Lane, El Socorro home, when he stumbled and fell on a pane of glass. His mother, Rasheda Mohammed, who was in the next room, heard a loud thud and rushed to the bedroom where she found her son bleeding from cuts to the groin area.

The boy was rushed to the Mt Hope Children’s Hospital, where he died after 35 minutes despite several attempts to revive him. Mohammed, a former student of El Socorro Islamic Primary School, passed his Secondary Entrance Exam (SEA) for San Juan Composite Secondary School only a few weeks ago. He had requested the paint to change the colour of his room to blue. When Newsday visited the family home, his father Sheriff Mohammed, who described his second child of five as a good, obedient son, also called the death an act of the Creator.

Police, who were only told of the death five hours after the incident, hurried to the scene to stop the family from cleaning the blood stains and from removing the ladder. They also had to halt the possibility of an early funeral today in order to investigate the incident. The body, which was housed at the Mt Hope Children’s Mortuary, was transferred yesterday to the Forensic Science Centre for an autopsy. CPL Vidalle, PC Mohammed and WPC John visited the scene.