COIMBATORE: In a heartbreaking incident, a five-year-old boy died of suffocation after a banana he was eating got stuck in his airway, causing severe choking in Erode on Tuesday night.

According to police, Sai Charan, son of Manik and Mahalakshmi from Annai Sathya Nagar, was eating a banana after dinner when he suddenly showed some signs of distress. “Soon, the boy suffered from acute breathlessness as the fruit had blocked his windpipe,” police said.

The shocked parents immediately rushed the boy to Erode Government Hospital, but he died on the way. Doctors examined and removed a piece of banana that was lodged in the windpipe, while confirming choking to be the cause of the boy’s death.

After a post-mortem examination, the body of the boy was handed over to his parents, who were unable to come to terms with the loss of their only child. The Karungalpalayam police have registered a case of unnatural death, and further inquiries are on.