A 30-month-old toddler apparently swallowed a screw and chocked to death in a Carmiel area daycare center. The screw, which was 3 centimeters (1.1 inches) in length resulted in an almost totally occluded airway. The kindergarten, which cares for 13 children, is situated in an apartment which belongs to the caretakers.

According to neighbors, the woman who runs the daycare center ran outside hysterical, apparently clueless as how to summon help. She screamed in Russian “does anyone know how to call police and an ambulance?” She explained that a child was choking.

A MDA paramedic unit arrived on the scene and the medic succeeded in removing the partial airway obstruction and they began treating the toddler. The condition of the child deteriorated en route to the hospital and doctors in the emergency room pronounced the child DOA.

Police questioned the couple that runs the daycare center and a decision regarding criminal negligence charges is pending.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)