A three-year-old girl has died after a petrol station's high-pressure air hose is thought to have somehow ended up in her mouth. Doctors reportedly say the unnamed child's lungs ruptured and then collapsed in the incident. She was taken to Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital in south-western Taiwan where she was declared dead shortly after arriving. Her dad surnamed Kuang, is being investigated on manslaughter charges by police investigating the death. The girl’s severe injuries are thought to be the result of a car-wash air gun having been put in her mouth. So far investigators have struggled to paint a definitive picture of whether her dad was responsible either by accident or design, or whether the child had grabbed the hose.
The father claims his daughter got out of the car and put the air gun into her own mouth, causing the accident at the self-service CPC filling station. He claims that as soon as he realised what had happened he rushed his daughter to the hospital. Kuang reportedly told detectives she had turned pale and appeared to stop breathing. However, investigators working with a single CCTV camera, reportedly say that while spraying his BMW the dad twice moves the air gun towards his daughter. Contrary to his claim that she got out of the car, the footage reportedly shows she does not leave the front passenger seat. But investigators are unable to make out what exactly happens during the two instances as the father obstructs the surveillance camera. Kuang was detained on manslaughter charges and granted bail of 60,000 TWD (£1,510) for negligence. Kaohsiung’s Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office is asking members of the public to come forward with any information that might aid their investigation.