Toddler chokes to death on meatball

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan: An 18-month-old boy choked to death on a meatball in Sungai Landas, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Wednesday evening.

The boy, Renhat, had been left by his parents at a relative's house in Batulicin, Tanah Bumbu regency.

The relatives gave the boy a meatball to eat, but it became lodged in his throat and blocked his breathing.

Renhat was rushed to Batulicin Hospital, but died shortly afterward.

"Almost everybody in the neighborhood loved and knew Renhat as a plump, lovely and active toddler," said a tearful neighbor.

As relatives and neighbors gathered at the bereaved family's house, Renhat's father Egal Simanjuntak said he could not believe what had happened to only child. --Antara