Police investigate child's death at day care

(123rf)

Daegu police are investigating the death of a 3-year-old girl at a day care center.

On June 21, the child was discovered unconscious and not breathing with traces of vomit around her mouth during nap time.

The family of the child claims the responsibility lies with the day care staff, while the child's teacher claims she was occupied with other tasks at the time. Despite the teacher performing cardiopulmonary resuscitations and rushing the child to hospital, the child died. No apparent external injuries were found on the child's body.

The child’s father told local media that the incident was caused by negligence, claiming that the death could have been avoided had the teacher paid closer attention.

The highlighted part describes that teachers should always check whether the toddlers are sleeping well during nap time. The description warns toddlers may have respiratory problems through vomiting or covering their faces with blankets. (‘The Principles of Guidelines and Manuals for Child Abuse Prevention in Child Care Centers’ announcement from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Korea Childcare Evaluation)

However, the teacher explained that she was writing in the "Kids Note" app at the time, which is used to record specific details about the students using smartphones and is one of the tasks required of kindergarten teachers.

The police verified that there were no foreign substances or abnormal symptoms found in the child's airway and announced plans to launch an investigation into who is responsible for the child's death after conducting a detailed autopsy to ascertain the exact cause of the incident.

By Cho Min-jeong(blacknib@heraldcorp.com)