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The roller shutters of the day care center in Gelsenkirchen are down: the police are investigating two teachers after the death of a boy
Photo: Federico Gambarini / dpa
After the death of a two-year-old boy in a Gelsenkirchen day care center, the police initiated criminal proceedings on suspicion of negligent homicide.
It is directed against the two 24 and 36 year old teachers.
An autopsy had previously shown that the boy had suffocated in his bed on Monday, as the senior public prosecutor Birgit Jürgens announced.
The exact events would be further investigated.
The boy was found lifeless on Monday after an afternoon nap at the facility.
He had been reanimated but died shortly after in the hospital.
Because of the position in which the boy was found, it is believed that he was trapped in a bunk bed.
The boy was said to have been lying down in the bunk bed during his afternoon nap and possibly pushed up the bottom plate of the bed above.
Then his head was probably wedged between the bed frame and the bottom plate of the upper bed, a city spokesman said on Tuesday.
The teachers would have sat right in front of the relaxation room, but did not notice the misfortune.
Lemgo: Five-year-old died while playing
On Tuesday there was also a death in a daycare center in Lemgo: A five-year-old was trapped between the tipping device and the frame of a vehicle trailer while playing on the outdoor area.
Rescue workers were able to free the child, but it still died on the spot.
The autopsy of the boy showed that he died as a result of the injuries sustained in the accident.
The Detmold public prosecutor's office is now investigating, according to a statement, on suspicion of negligent homicide against a 46-year-old man who is said to have parked the trailer on the day-care center because it was supposed to be used to remove bulky waste.
At the time of the accident, the two by three meter high trailer with a tipping loading area had not yet been loaded.
It belongs to the church sponsor of the kindergarten.
The investigation continued.
It was not yet possible to question all of the witnesses.
A spokesman for the police in Lippe said that the employees, relatives and children in the facility were seriously shocked by what was happening.
You have to be very careful.
According to the prosecutor, there are apparently no adult eyewitnesses to the event.
ptz / dpa / AFP