A five-year-old boywas shot dead while he and his seven-year-old cousin were playing with a gun at their home in Hatfield, Manchester, yesterday.

The Manchester police have declined to release the name of the boy but said he was pronounced dead at hospital after being rushed there by relatives. The mothers of both children are sisters and live in the same yard, the police said.

Reports reaching THE WEEKEND STAR is that sometime during the afternoon, the children were playing when they accidentally hit over a bucket in which the illegal firearm was hidden.

playing

It is understood that upon seeing the weapon, they took it up and began playing with it and it went off hitting the little boy.

Initial police investigations have revealed that after the incident, a man grabbed the gun and fled the scene. He is currently being sought by the police.

Both mothers have apparently been hit hard by the incident and one had to be taken to hospital, the police said.