A 2-year-old boy was crushed to death when an ice sculpture collapsed at a Luxembourg Christmas market, according to new reports.
The toddler was at the Place Guillaume II market with his family around 8 p.m. Sunday when the sculpture, installed next to the ice skating rink, suddenly fell apart — with one of the broken shards landing on top of him, local outlet RTL reported.
The unidentified tot died at the scene.
The incident left horrified family members and witnesses “in tears,” and they are under the care of a local psychological support group, according to Le Quotidien.
Authorities are working to determine how the sculpture collapsed, RTL reported.
The public prosecutor’s office announced Monday it has opened an involuntary manslaughter investigation into the incident, according to the report.
The sculptor from the company Ice & Art, who constructed the work in question, told the outlet that this was the first time one of his pieces collapsed.
“We are all shocked, me first and foremost,” he told the outlet. “This does not happen.”
The designer suggested that the heavy slab “could not fall alone — it’s impossible,” according to the report.
The artwork was made of “only pure water, without air, so that it is completely transparent and we would see the slightest defect,” the sculptor added.
In a press release obtained by the outlet, the City of Luxembourg said that “no words can appease the pain [the family is] experiencing.”
“Words cannot describe how tragic the incident was,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel tweeted.