Young child dies two days after choking on a snack at a nursery in Valencia

A young child has died in hospital after choking while chewing on a piece of bread with oil at a nursery in Valencia, Spain.

The 22-month-old boy was rushed to La Fe Hospital on Monday 11 September after suffering serious injuries due to a lack of oxygen reaching his brain.

The incident happened at about 4pm shortly before the child's mother arrived to the nursery to collect him. One of the staff who tried to resuscitate the boy told police that the child was "happy and well" when he put the last piece of the snack in his mouth.

The child chewed the bread with oil and salt, asked the staff member for water and took the food out of his mouth. Moments later, he fell to the floor and when another carer picked him up to give him water they noticed "something strange". After phoning 112 and the child's mother, the nursery staff resuscitated the child and placed him in a recovery position.

The carers also dampened the child's forehead and the back of his neck, but then he fell unconscious. Police and medics from the Emergency Medical Aid Service (SAMU) rushed to the scene to help the child, who could barely breathe as his windpipe was blocked with breadcrumbs. He was given CPR for 20 minutes and then transferred to hospital in a critical condition, where he died two days later.