Toddler Ghulame Mustafa Balal's road death was accident

Sep 23 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A YOUNG girl watched in horror as her little cousin was knocked down by a van as they played outside.

Two-year-old Ghulame Mustafa Balal died from serious head injuries after being hit by a white van when he chased a ball into the road in Ravensthorpe.

The Birmingham youngster and his family had been enjoying a visit to relatives living in Ravensthorpe when the tragedy happened.

But at a Huddersfield inquest yesterday coroner Roger Whittaker told driver Craig Murgatroyd that he could not be blamed for the little boy’s death.

He said: “He died as a result of a tragic accident.

“It is a dreadful experience, particularly as a child was involved, but you should not blame yourself.”

The little boy was with his cousin, 13-year-old Hunsa Ali, on Charles Street when a ball they were playing with rolled away into the road.

She said in a statement: “We were playing with a ball on the side of the road and it went into the road.

“He went to go and get it. He was really fast and that’s when the van came and hit him.”

The driver called emergency services and Ghulame was treated briefly at the roadside before being rushed to Dewsbury District Hospital.

The youngster was gravely ill when he arrived and had to be resuscitated after his heart and breathing stopped.

But a CT scan revealed serious internal injuries, including swelling to his brain and significant injury to his lungs.

The youngster was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary but died in the accident and emergency department there hours after the accident on August 20, 2009.