2-year-old crushed to death by skid-steer loader at family business

COHASSET, Mass. — A toddler in Cohasset, Massachusetts, was killed when he was crushed by a skid-steer loader at his family’s business.

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The 2-year-old boy was with his grandfather at Hajj Auto Service when a large piece of the heavy equipment his grandfather was operating fell on the child, WFXT reported

The toddler was a couple of weeks from his third birthday.

The grandfather rushed his grandson to the Cohasset Police Department for help. The child was then transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Mel McLaughlin owns a shop near the garage and told WFXT that the grandfather and grandson had an inseparable bond.

“The grandpa brought over the little boy every day pretty much just for a piece of bubble gum and he took great pride and brought him everywhere he went,” McLaughlin told WFXT. “There was definitely an unconditional love. That is why the story itself is so much more heartbreaking.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is working with state and local police on the investigation to determine what happened, but police are calling the incident a “horrible tragedy” and that it isn’t believed to be criminal in nature, WFXT reported.