A teenage boy has recalled the harrowing moment he called emergency services after hearing a man screaming while holding the limp body of a five-year-old girl.
Jabar Stanikzai, 13, was walking home from school in Adelaide’s western suburb of Seaton, when he heard a man screaming from a street away.
The young teen approached the man and saw he was holding a child in his arms and she was not moving.
The man yelled at Jabar to call an ambulance, which prompted him to contact emergency services.
Emergency services at the scene following the callout in Adelaide on Wednesday
A major police investigation has been launched after a young Adelaide girl died
‘When I came closer to the man I could see that he was holding a child – a little girl – in his arms and she was limp, not moving or anything and he was yelling her name I think,’ Jabar said.
‘When he saw me, he shouted at me to call the ambulance so I ran to the phone booth on the street and called the ambulance.’
Jabar made the call just before 4pm and within five minutes saw six or seven ambulances and multiple police cars arrive at the Housing Trust on Ballater Avenue.
Paramedics treated the young girl at the scene before rushing her to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital where she died a short time later.
It is believed the five-year-old died after suffering from a cardiac arrest.
Jabar’s father Abdul Ghafar Stanikzai said he was proud of his son for helping the man and could not fathom losing a child.
‘I’m very proud of Jabar because he has never been in an emergency situation like this before and he showed he was able to help others,’ Mr Stanikzai told The Advertiser.
‘But I am a father of three sons, and one of my children is five years old just like that little girl and I don’t want to even imagine what it’s like losing someone so young.’
Neighbour Sharon Surace, 67, also heard the man’s cries for help and described the scene as ‘horrific’ and heartbreaking’.
‘All I heard was this guy screeching, he wasn’t yelling like he was fighting or drunk, you just knew it was a scream like someone has died,’ Ms Surace said.
‘It was a horrific scene to witness, to see this guy holding the (unresponsive) little girl in his arms and yelling for help, it’s just heartbreaking.’
Ms Surace, who has lost a child in the past, left flowers on the doorstep of the girl’s home on Thursday as the family ‘would be going through the hardest of days’.
A police spokesperson confirmed the girl’s death is now subject to a coronial investigation. No arrests have been made.
South Australian Police are investigating the sudden death of a five-year-old girl at an Adelaide home
Flowers left at the site where a five-year-old girl died in Adelaide on Wednesday
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said authorities were treating the case ‘seriously’ and that authorities were trying to establish how the child died on Wednesday.
‘It’s obviously very tragic when anyone loses their life, more so with a young person,’ he told ABC Radio Adelaide.
‘Until we have further clarification in relation to the cause and circumstances, we obviously treat it seriously.’
The Major Crimes unit is helping with investigations into her death, which Commissioner Stevens said was the usual for early inquiries due to the child’s age.
‘When we have a five-year-old child pass away we want to make sure we have the right resources to establish the circumstances as quickly as possible so we can move forward in the right direction,’ he said.
