Boy dies after family truck slips, tragic accident in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, UK

A nine-year-old boy tragically lost his life after a devastating incident on his family’s farm in Rhondda Cynon Taf, south east Wales. Tomos Rhys Bunford was fatally struck by a truck as it slipped down a slope while his family was tending to their calves in the field. The young boy’s father, Rhys, was driving the 4×4 vehicle, which was towing a water bowser, when the vehicle began to slide uncontrollably towards a steep 16ft drop on the property. In a harrowing attempt to save her son, Tomos’s mother, Louise, bravely pushed him away from the truck’s path but herself was hit by the vehicle.
During the inquest into Tomos’s death, it was revealed that a Health and Safety Executive report cited poor conditions of the trailer brakes as a contributing factor. The Assistant Coroner, Gavin Knox, determined that Rhys had lost control of the truck in a desperate attempt to prevent his family from falling off the precipice. The steep terrain of the field coupled with inappropriate tires on the vehicle were identified as additional factors leading to the tragic accident. The family had previously driven the same route without incident. Tomos’s cause of death was officially recorded as blunt force injury to the chest and abdomen. The entire community mourns the loss of this young life, a heartbreaking reminder of the dangers that can unexpectedly unfold even in the most familiar surroundings.