Two year old boy dies after being run over by police van

SANTIAGO.- A toddler only two months away from his third birthday reportedly died at the Hospital de Tocopilla after a police van ran him over as it was departing from the house where he lived. The child has been identified as Javier Riveros López.

According to preliminary information, the vehicle arrived at the child's residence in order to ensure that his uncle was fulfilling the conditions of his house arrest. The child was allegedly run over as the police left the home. Eyewitnesses reportedly told Radio Cooperativa that the boy was underneath the van, chasing a cat.

After the accident, the officers themselves took the child to the Hospital de Tocopilla, where he later died as a result of a cardio respiratory attack and open head injury.

Police Major Iván Ketterer asserted that the case has been turned over to the Fiscalía Militar, and indicated that, while the driver of the vehicle "is currently in custody, he is expected to be freed within the next few hours".