Seven-year-old boy in critical condition after dog attack outside Hilversum school
A 7-year-old boy is in critical condition after being attacked by a dog on Tuesday near the Kindercampus primary school on Willem Bontekoestraat in Hilversum, suffering severe facial bite wounds, authorities and school officials said.
The attack happened on the street near the school gates while children were playing outside, NH reports. Witnesses said a dog that had escaped from a nearby garden attacked the boy. The animal was off a leash, and the garden gate was reportedly unsecured.
Police confirmed a “bite incident” at 3:36 p.m. on Tuesday and said they are investigating. “We are currently investigating and may be able to share more information later,” a police spokesperson said. Authorities said the boy is in the hospital and, as far as is known, in critical condition.
Other children witnessed the attack, according to the school. “His friends saw it all happen. It must have been very traumatic for them,” a school spokesperson said. The school immediately set up crisis support.
A nearby resident told De Telegraaf that the dog’s owner has been involved in earlier incidents. The resident said the man owns several similar dogs and added that there had been past cases involving local children, including claims that the man had threatened to release his dogs on the children.
