10-year-old boy may have died from suffocation inside a fireman’s car in Balamban

The car owned by a fireman in Balamban, Cebu where the body of a 10-year-old boy was found past 2 p.m. on Oct. 5, 2019. | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The 10-year-old boy whose body was found inside a vehicle owned by a fireman at 2 p.m. today, October 5, 2019, in front of the Balamban Fire station in Barangay Santa Cruz of the southwestern Cebu town  may have died from suffocation.

Police Major Christian Torres, Balamban Police chief, told CDN Digital in a phone interview that based on their initial investigation, they concluded it was suffocation that caused the death of the boy.

Torres said the boy, a resident of Sitio Mangga 1, Barangay Canbuhawe, Balamban, Cebu,  might have crept inside the vehicle of Fire Officer 1 Paul Romero, and remained inside the car for 14 hours until Romero opened it this afternoon before heading home.

Romero went on duty sometime around midnight on October 4 and went back to his car after he went off duty after 2 p.m. It was that the found the unconscious boy inside his vehicle.

Torres said that while they suspected that the boy might have suffocated to death inside the vehicle, it remained to be confirmed.

“Pero amo pa klarohon gyud kung mo sugot ang ginikanan ipa autopsy ang bata,” said Torres.

(But we still have to verify and ask the parents if they will agree to have their child’s body go through an autopsy.)

Read more: 10-year-old boy found dead inside a fireman’s car in Balamban town

For proper declaration of death, the body of the boy was brought to the Balamban District Hospital at past 7 p.m. today, said Torres.

Torres said said Romero told him that the latter was about to take his jacket placed at the back of his vehicle and was horrified instead when he saw a body of a skinny boy lying on his belly on the left side of the car’s backseat. A foul smell emitted from the car after Romero opened the door, said Torres.

Romero  immediately informed his colleagues who also hurriedly contacted the police and the town’s medical emergency team. However, upon the arrival of the authorities, they confirmed that the boy was already lifeless.

Torres said that Romero was sure that he locked his car when he went on duty at midnight at the fire station and was not sure when and how the boy boarded his vehicle./elb