A tragic accident at Angel’s Childcare Centre in Takapuna on Friday, November 18 claimed the life of four-year-old Aldrich Viju.
Aldrich’s father, Viju Vareed, dropped his son at the centre at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and left for work at the factory in Henderson. He received a call just after 2 p.m. from the centre informing about his son’s accident.
Aldrich had joined Angel’s Childcare Centre just a few months back and attended the centre three times a week.
He is believed to have been playing on the playground equipment when the accident occurred. The police are still investigating the circumstances under which the incident took place.
Aldrich was declared dead on the scene and was taken to Auckland Hospital for further examination.
Mr Vareed works in a food and drink packaging specialist company and his wife Gisha Viju works as a nurse at Waitemata District Health Board. They are members of Malayali Association of Auckland and are well known in the community.
“The family is broken and are unable to accept and come to the terms of their beloved son’s death,” said Joseph Devasia, president of Auckland Malayali Samajam.
A prayer service was held for Aldrich on the morning of November 21 at Ellerslie Catholic Church. More than 300 community members, including friends of the family along with several community leaders and Members of Parliament came to pay their respects.
Rev. Father Joy led the prayer service while a soft chant in Malayalam reverberated in the background in the church.
High Commissioner of India to New Zealand Mr Sanjiv Kohli along with his wife Ruma Kohli visited the grieving family at their Takapuna residence on November 20.
Expressing his condolences, Mr Kohli said that losing a child is a painful experience and in this time of grief, the High Commission of India will provide all possible assistance to the family, including footing the bill for the family to travel back to their native state of Kerala in India for their son’s last rites.
Mr Devasia expressed his gratitude to Mr Kohli on behalf of the family.
Aldrich’s New Zealand journey ended on Tuesday, November 22 as his parents flew to India for his last rites and reached Cochin Airport on Wednesday, November 23.
The police have referred the incident to the coroner and WorkSafe New Zealand is investigating the matter.
When Indian Weekender asked Workplace New Zealand about any developments, they said, “WorkSafe is investigating this incident. We are unable to provide any further information as an investigation is underway.”
Aldrich’s untimely death has created a stir in the community as parents fear and question the safety of their children at childcare centres.
“We have queries by parents from different places stating they are heartbroken with the news and if they can talk to someone so it brings them a bit of relief,” said Mr Devasia.
Aldrich is survived by his parents, two-year-old sister Andrea Viju and the parents are expecting another child soon. The funeral service is scheduled to be held at a local church in Kerala on November 25.