Boy, 2, dies at unlicensed kindergarten

The family of a 2-year-old boy who died while at kindergarten has accused the pre-school of failing to give him proper medical attention, following autopsy results released at the weekend.

The child, known as Nannan, had only attended Xintong Yangguang Bilingual Kindergarten in Mentougou district for four days. He died on Thursday after being rushed to Mentougou Maternal and Child Health Hospital by kindergarten staff. At midday, kindergarten staff telephoned Nannan's grandfather, surnamed Shi, saying that Nannan was in hospital. When relatives arrived, doctors informed them that the child showed no signs of life as he arrived at hospital, and despite trying CPR, their attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

The autopsy, published on Saturday night ruled out the cause of death as being due to a trauma such as a fall, but said that undigested carrots and meat were found in his stomach, the Beijing News reported yesterday.

The newspaper alleged Nannan's relatives believe the report and his "tightly closed lips that appeared purple" indicate his death was caused by choking, and say the school failed to take appropriate first-aid measures as soon as the problem became apparent.

Nannan's uncle, surnamed Song, yesterday told the Global Times that police have launched an investigation, and the family was still waiting for the results of more pathological tests, which would take a month to complete.

Xu Shi, a pediatrician from Huilongguan community hospital, said that even trained school medical staff may not be able to save a child from choking, but that training for school staff was essential, given the risks to small children.

"Children must be supervised when they are eating," said Xu.

"We've been training teachers in the basics of first aid to deal with choking, but even so, only about 30 percent of medically trained school staff know how to do it properly," noted Xu, "but the doctors in the school are not always there with them."

According to Beijing Municipal Commission of Education's website, Xintong Yangguang is not listed as a licensed kindergarten in Mengtougou. Calls to the school yesterday went unanswered.

Officials from the education authority went to inspect the kindergarten on Friday, said a Legal Mirror report, and found it was closed. The education authority said that the school was certified to be a training institution but not licensed as a kindergarten, and was not authorized to provide food.