This photo shows a playground at a day care center in the city of Okayama's Kita Ward, the site of an accident where a boy's neck got caught between equipment, on Oct. 14, 2021.The red circle shows the spot where the boy got caught. (Mainichi/Kazuki Iwamoto)

       OKAYAMA -- A 2-year-old boy remains unconscious after he was found with his neck caught in a space between playground equipment at a day care in western Japan.

       Around 10:10 a.m. on Oct. 14, a teacher at the Daini Sakura day care center in the city of Okayama's Kita Ward found the boy with his neck caught between a partition board and the floorboard of an elevated section of the outdoor play system, and called the 119 emergency number. The boy was sent to hospital, but is unconscious and in a serious condition. The place where the boy was at the time of the accident was apparently a blind spot for the teacher. Okayama Prefectural Police are investigating the details.

       According to Okayama Nishi Police Station, the boy was among 17 toddlers who were playing in the playground from around 20 minutes before the accident. As the boy did not emerge from the integrated play system, which included a slide and monkey bars, the teacher looked inside the equipment and found him. The boy's neck was stuck between the floorboard of the second-story section, which stands about 1 meter tall -- about the same as the boy's height -- and the partition plate located about 20 centimeters below, with his feet touching the ground.

       Three people, including the boy's class teacher, were watching the children in the playground, but as the boy was on the other side of the board used for climbing the equipment, it was apparently a blind spot.

       According to the day care, the partition plate where the boy's neck got caught was set up to prevent children from running around inside and hitting their head. Although the center will continue to provide day care services as usual, it plans to suspend usage of the playground equipment for the time being. The center's director Sanae Hiramatsu commented, "I'm very sorry for the child who had the accident, as well as his family."

       (Japanese original by Kazuki Iwamoto and Koichiro Tsutsumi, Okayama Bureau)

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