Boy killed by truck at funeral

Cape Town - A family have been left devastated after their son was crushed by a truck while he attended the funeral of a family member.

Now the dead little boy’s father blames himself for making his son go to the burial of a relative on Saturday morning.

Ten-year-old Lorenzo Links didn’t stand a chance when he allegedly slipped under the wheels of a massive City of Cape Town garbage truck.

The Parkdene Primary School boy died instantly as his traumatised family looked on in horror.

“All Lorenzo wanted to do on Saturday morning was watch his favourite cartoons,” says devastated dad Pieter Links.

“But I insisted he come along to my aunty’s funeral.

Lorenzo Links, 10, was killed by a garbage truck while on his way to attend his aunt's funeral.

Supplied

“Now my boy is gone... he was still meant to help me fix the car’s radiator later on.

“My wife Dianne and our three daughters are taking it very hard.”

When the Daily Voice arrived at the scene mom Dianne was inconsolable, sitting on the pavement just metres away from where her young son was crushed to death.

The massive white and red council garbage truck was still parked in the road where the driver had screeched to a halt after hitting the boy.

A small crowd of people gathered at the scene where Lorenzo’s blood splattered the Wallacedene street near the church where his aunt was being buried from.

His 39-year-old father bravely swept his son’s blood away as the mortuary van arrived to collect his small corpse.

Witnesses say Lorenzo ended up under the truck’s wheels as he dashed to a shop to make change.

They say the boy, dressed in his smart church clothes, was following the funeral procession before he headed towards the shop.

He then slipped, seconds before the truck hit him.

On the scene the driver apologised to the family before going to the Kraaifontein Police Station.

“I want to say sorry to the family,” says the unidentified driver.

“I could not imagine that something like this would happen to me.”

Police spokesman FC van Wyk says the driver has not been arrested and cops are investigating a culpable homicide case.

Daily Voice