The Health Ministry and the prosecutor against life crimes in Thessaloniki have ordered ordered an urgent investigation into the causes of the death of a 2.5-year-old girl at a municipality nursery of the city in northern Greece..
An employee at the Agios Stylianos nursery found the girl with severe breathing difficulties on Friday morning. An ambulance was called, however, despite the paramedics’ efforts the toddler passed away.
A medical examiner was summoned to the scene, according to preliminary examination the girl’s death is attributed to pulmonary infection.
According to media, the girl was suffering from a problem in the tonsils and it seems that a day earlier she was transferred to a hospital, yet, she was released.
It is worth noting that the girl from Nigeria was in the municipality nursery by court order because the mother could not support her.
On Saturday, a day after her death, the little girl was to return to her mother who had meanwhile changed her life and had a job and managed her daughter’s return home through a court order.
Speaking to media outside the nursery, the mother said that nobody had informed her about her daughter’s health problems.
According to local media grtimes.gr, the mother saw a “racist motive” behind the girl’s death, saying “she died because she was black, she would have survived if she was white.”
She added that she was not informed that the girl was in hospital a day earlier.
What is interesting is that the Prosecutor of Crimes against Life is to investigate whether the offenses of exposure resulting in death, manslaughter with potential intent, manslaughter by negligence in any direction are substantiated, daily ethnos.gr reports.
As part of the investigation,the medical files, documents from the institution and from the hospital concerning the child as well as the forensic report will be presented and all those involved will be asked to testify.
An autopsy is due to determine the exact causes of the child’s death.
General Secretary of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, Nikos Liakopoulos told media that the girl had chronic nose-ear-throat problems, adding that “the necessary actions were being taken, we were following the doctors’ instructions.”