Girl, five, killed by sliding gate

A five-year-old girl died after she was trapped by an automatic sliding gate, police have said.

Emergency services were called to the scene at Brook Court, Bridgend, south Wales, on Saturday afternoon.

The girl, who has not been named, was taken to the town’s Princess of Wales Hospital where she later died.

South Wales Police said a full investigation was under way and her family is being informed. A file is being prepared for the coroner, the force said.

The waist-high black metal gate is at the entrance to a small car park at a three-storey apartment building about five minutes walk from the town centre.

Residents at the modern block of privately-owned flats, which is surrounded by streets of terraced houses, said the accident happened about 5pm on Saturday.

The little girl, who lived nearby, was understood to be eastern European.

Eleanor Jones, who lives opposite the scene, said a large number of police officers were in the street when she returned home about 6.30pm.

She said: “I can’t believe it because the little girl was there when I went out. By the time I came home it was just police in the street. I had seen her but I didn’t know her.”

She added: “It’s devastating. You can’t believe that a gate would do that.”

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