Boy dies in hospital after collapsing at bus stop

● Shoppers and residents fight to save seven-year-old by giving him CPR

A boy has died in hospital after collapsing at a bus stop in Edinburgh.

Shoppers and nearby residents described the battle by paramedics to try to save him by giving him CPR.

The boy, thought to be around seven years old, was taken ill at a bus stop on Constitution Street on Saturday evening.

One witness, whose home overlooks the bus stop, said: “I could see an ambulance and a wee boy getting CPR. There was a man and a woman there with two younger children.

“After about 15 minutes I saw the boy get taken into the ambulance on a trolley bed and then the man cuddle the woman and the children before going in the ambulance with the wee boy.

“Police told the other people waiting at the bus stop to go on to the next one down the road. It’s such a shame for the family and so sad that the two little ones saw it.”

Emergency services were called at about 5:36pm and two ambulances attended the scene where they attempted to resuscitate the child before taking him to hospital. Police were in attendance just minutes later. He was treated at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children but died later that evening.

The reason for the sudden illness is not known but the death is not thought to be suspicious.

Constitution Street was cordoned off for three hours after the incident from Laurie Street to Coatfield Lane with a police officer on duty to redirect traffic.

The bus stop was taped off until around 9pm when police removed the cordon.

It is believed that the boy and his family had been heading home from a nearby soft play centre around the corner on Easter Road. Officers went to bars in the immediate vicinity to request CCTV footage as part of their inquiries.

The family have requested privacy to let them grieve after their loss.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Police in Edinburgh were in attendance at Constitution Street around 5:40pm on Saturday 7 April after a child was taken unwell.

“The boy was taken to the Sick Kids Hospital where he sadly died a short time later.

“There are not thought to be anysuspiciouscircumstances.

“Inquiries are ongoing into the full circumstances and the death is currently being treated as unexplained.”