File
An eight-year-old boy has died after being attacked and killed by a dog while playing in his family yard.
Free State police spokesperson, Sergeant Mahlomola Kareli, said the incident occurred on Saturday in Vista Park in Mangaung.
“Police rushed to the scene and, on arrival found emergency personnel already on the scene attending to the severely injured child. The aggressive dog that was covered in blood was spotted nearby and put down by the police members,” he said.
Kareli said the boy sustained bite wounds to the neck and chest and was certified dead at the scene.
He said it appears that the dog, said to be a pitbull according to one report, is alleged to have escaped from its enclosure and jumped over a fence to attack the child.
Police have opened an inquest docket into the matter.
