An inquest has heard a nine-year-old boy was crushed to death by a water tank on his family’s farm.
Tomos Bunford died in the freak accident in Blaenllechau in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales while feeding the family’s cattle on September 6, 2021.
Tomas, alongside older brother Gethin and baby sister Clemmie, had been travelling in a pick-up truck with parents Rhys Bunford, 36, and his wife Louise.
When the truck started to slide down the field, the family were scared the water bowser would fall over the cliff at the end of the farmland and told their children to get out.
An inquest has ruled Tomos Bunford died of accidental death
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However, after getting out of the vehicle, the water bowser, which weighed around 2,240kg, hurtled towards Tomos and hit him. He died of blunt force injury to the chest and abdomen.
Paying tribute to him at the inquest hearing in Pontypridd, Rhys Bunford said: “When we used to go to the markets he used to have a pet cow.
“We bought this little calf for him and he used to walk it with a lead around the yard. We looked one day and he had little electric razors and was cutting its hair – he was comical like that.”
He added that Tomos “loved his computers and YouTubing.”
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The incident happened near Blaenllechau, south Wales
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Speaking at the hearing, Mr Bunford explained he lost control as the truck continued to slide, picking up speed and heading towards a sheer drop at the end of the field. He then told his family to get out of the truck.
Louise was sitting in the back of the truck with baby Clemmie. Tomos was sitting next to her. Gethin, the couple’s eldest son, was in the front passenger seat. She then pushed Tomos out before jumping out, clutching baby Clemmie to her chest.
She said: “We could hear the panic in the children’s voices. They were asking us what they should do…I went under the wheels with a baby on my chest.”
Louise then saw the water tank come towards them, adding: “I thought if anyone was going to go it was me.”
An investigation into the incident found that the bowser brakes were not working.
The maximum weight the truck should have been towing without brakes was 750kg (1,650lb).
A coroner in Pontypridd reached a conclusion of accidental death.
