9-year-old boy dies in firecracker accident

New Delhi: In a bizarre accident, days after his birthday, a nine-year-old boy died after he was hit by splinters of a steel glass inside which he was bursting firecrackers in Outer North Delhi's Alipur area, police here said.

The deceased was identified as Prince, who lived with his family in the Om Vihar area. His father is a labourer. Police said that the incident was reported on Wednesday when the boy was bursting firecrackers inside the glass on an empty plot. "The firecrackers burst and the glass splinters hit his body due to which he was injured," the official said, adding that he was immediately rushed to hospital where he died.

From the hospital, the police got information about the incident. The deceased's parents elaborated on the events leading to the accident to the cops. Reports were also coming that after lighting the firecracker, which was inside the glass, it did not burst. So the child went to check and the cracker suddenly burst. The child had no time to react and the splinters hit his body.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini), Jitendra Kumar Meena said that they are waiting for the postmortem report. The action in the case was taken under Section 174 of the CrPC.

Meanwhile, police are investigating the case from different angles, including how the child got access to the firecrackers. "There might be a possibility that a few days ago there were small events of Raavan Dahan were held and the boy might have got the firecracker from one of the places where it was celebrated. All the angles being investigated," one official said.

Investigators are also probing whether the child had purchased firecrackers from a shop. The deceased's relatives said they want justice for the child. "The splinters got inside my child's body and did not come out and he died," a relative said. The boy was born on October 22, 2011, and was studying in

class 2.