Parents Sidra (4) talk about the death of their daughter at school in Belgium

Sidra was just celebrating her fourth birthday when she got stuck in a jungle gym at school on March 29. Two days later, on April 2, she died in hospital from her injuries. Her parents are devastated. “Our child was not sick. But suddenly she never comes back.”

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Mohammed received a call from the school director on March 29. “At that moment I was in the car. My wife was at the market in Antwerp. On the telephone I heard: ‘You have to come quickly, your daughter has fallen’. My son had also fallen at school six months ago. That’s what happens. I also went to the hospital with my son. He was treated for his head wound. Then I knew It didn’t sit well,” he tells Het Nieuwsblad.

The father was accompanied to the hospital by two officers. There he saw his daughter. “She didn’t respond. Her heart was apparently still beating, but I didn’t notice any breathing. I already knew what time it was, but I couldn’t tell my wife. Sidra was brain dead, the doctors said. But I don’t think that’s the case. happened at the hospital. I’m sure she was at school.”

Sidra’s condition deteriorated rapidly. “At one point the doctor said: ‘She may die today or tomorrow’. On Tuesday evening, our girl finally died around half past six in the evening,” Dounia continues.

The circumstances of the accident are still unclear. According to the parents, Sidra’s head got stuck between the bars of a climbing frame. The judicial investigation into “accidental killing” is still ongoing. The school management says in a statement that it experiences a “major impact” from the events and is waiting for answers from the investigation.

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Dounia, who has just returned from Morocco, where her daughter was buried, and Mohammed demand more than answers. They want those responsible for their daughter’s death to be held accountable. “Something like this should never happen again,” the parents say emphatically. They want schools to become safer so that something like this doesn’t happen to another child.