Tragic plunge stuns shoppers

AS festivities were in full swing at the launch of Bahrain City Centre’s winter wonderland, a stunned silence gripped shoppers after a child and his father plunged to the ground from the mall’s first floor on Thursday evening.

GulfWeekly reporter Shilpa Chandran was at the scene interviewing shoppers about the festivities which had attracted hundreds of families.

She said: “I noticed one lady speaking frantically over the phone, her hand clutched to her chest and eyes wide open in fear.
 
“A large crowd had gathered near the mall’s customer service centre and at first I thought there was another show going on.

“It became instantly clear that a tragedy had happened by the shocked looks and grave expressions on the faces of the people close-by.

“A lady in the crowd said that a boy and his father had fallen from the first floor. An ambulance had already taken away the man and people were desperately trying to revive the child.

“The boy was lying in a pool of blood and had suffered a serious head injury. I walked over to see if I could assist the boy’s mother.
“She just sat with her eyes wide open, clutching a phone into which she was yelling words which weren’t too clear.

“She kept saying to onlookers that she did not want to speak to her husband and that he had thrown their son from the first floor before jumping himself.

“She just sat there, her hands and legs jerking helplessly, opening and shutting her eyes tightly, she was panting and shaking and in an absolute state of shock.

“She was helped into a wheelchair and I could hear her screaming and gasping for breath as she was taken towards the ambulance. It was heart-breaking.”

There were nurses, medical and security staff in attendance and an ambulance crew surrounding her son. Finally, after 20 minutes of working on the child’s head injuries he was carefully placed on to a stretcher.

“As they placed an oxygen mask over his mouth I noticed his feet start to twitch and felt a sense of relief at the thought that he might make it despite his terrible head injuries,” said Shilpa.

Unfortunately, it appears little could be done for 10-year-old Akshay Sharma. The Grade Five student at the International School of Choueifat was admitted to Salmaniya Medical Complex. He was declared ‘brain dead’ by medics.

His father Ajay, who holds Indian and Canadian passports, was a former employee of a Bahrain insurance company. He suffered back, pelvic and abdominal injuries in the incident and has been referred to a psychiatric hospital by the Public Prosecution.

His wife Jayashree is being supported by Art of Living volunteers. She told police that Mr Sharma’s behaviour had been abnormal for the past year, ever since he lost his job.

Police are continuing the investigations of the incident which was captured on the mall’s CCTV.