A five-year-old boy died after choking on a sandwich in Gran Canaria.
The child's frantic dad drove him to a health centre near their home after an unsuccessful attempt to dislodge the food stuck in his throat.
He was already in cardiac arrest when he reached the centre and medical staff were unable to save his life despite an hour-long attempt to revive him.
Yesterday afternoon’s tragedy happened just eight months after an eight-year-old boy choked to death on a hot dog during a family get-together at a funfair on the same island.
The youngster at the centre of the latest incident, which occurred while he was at home in Juan Grande - a 15-minute drive from the popular tourist resorts of Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles,- - has been named locally as Aday M.R.
He was thought to be Spanish.
Island newspaper La Provincia said the boy’s dad found him choking on his sandwich after going outside for a moment to dump household rubbish in a wheelie bin.
Medical staff at El Doctoral Health Centre, an eight-minute drive away, took over after father and son arrived.
They managed to dislodge the half-digested piece of sandwich that was blocking his airway but he had already gone into cardiac arrest and after unsuccessful attempts to save his life, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy has taken place. The boy’s family are receiving counselling.
Police and other emergency services involved in the incident have yet to make any official comment.
The tragedy last June involving an eight-year-old boy took place at a burger bar during an annual festival in the Gran Canarian town of Telde.
Local reports at the time said the Spanish youngster who died had just taken his first bite of his hot dog when he got into difficulties.
Telde mayor Hector Suarez said after that tragedy: “We are dismayed and very affected.”
