Death of child in Larne ‘horrific’ for family and community says local councillor

The death of a child in Larne has been described as “horrific” for the family and community by a local representative.

On Thursday police received reports of a medical emergency involving a child at a property in the Antiville area of Larne.

On Friday police said that the child had died.

Andrew Clarke, a DUP councillor for the area, told the PA news agency that the child’s death was “a trauma” for the community.

“This is a quiet area, not a lot happens which is a good thing, and then something like this out of the blue is pretty horrific,” he said.

“Any death, any sudden death, is a shock, but when you have a child, someone who is full of life and happiness and is suddenly taken away, it really is quite a trauma I think for the community, and also for the family, and our hearts go out to them.”

Mr Clarke said the incident was “devastating” for the town.

“Ambulances came, the air ambulance came, police were tasked, there was quite a commotion, traffic being interrupted and so on,” he said.

“And then news began to filter out that a young girl had sadly lost her life, that’s been confirmed by the police.

“The impact has been pretty, pretty devastating. Here and all round the town, there’s a sense of disbelief, a sense of shock that something like that would happen in this area.”

A PSNI spokesman asked people not to speculate on the cause of death.

The spokesman said: “A child was taken to hospital but sadly passed away. A post mortem will now be carried out today to determine the cause of death and inquiries remain ongoing.

“Until a post mortem is completed, we will not know the cause of death and would, therefore, urge people to refrain from speculation in relation to this death.”

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said it attended a call just after 1pm on Thursday.

One patient was taken by ambulance to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.