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Belarusian boy fatally injured while staying with host family in Italy

An eight-year-old Belarusian boy was fatally injured when he fell off his bicycle into a nearly dry swimming pool on Tuesday evening in Italy's northern city of Bergamo.

According to Italian media reports, the accident occurred in the yard of a house where the boy was staying with an Italian family under a Chernobyl respite program. He hit his head hard on the ceramic surface of the two-meter pool. The 14-year-old son of the owners of the house found the child unconscious and immediately called an ambulance. The boy was rushed to a hospital in a critical condition, but he never regained his consciousness and soon died.

Andrey Savinykh, spokesman for the Belarusian foreign ministry, confirmed the reports at Thursday's briefing.

The boy was taken to a resuscitation unit, but doctors failed to save his life, Mr. Savinykh said. "It is absolutely obvious that this is a tragedy for all involved parties," he said. "I would like to offer condolences to the parents of the dead child."

The Belarusian embassy currently works in close contact with Italian authorities to complete all formal procedures, he said. // BelaPAN