What happened

On Monday, 19 October 2026, the municipal kindergarten in Jedlicze, in Poland's Podkarpackie province, hosted a first aid and rescue demonstration for its youngest pupils. The aim was to show the children how medical services work. Instructors and students from the Medical Rescue programme at the State College of Applied Sciences (PANS) in Krosno ran the session. During the show, a three-year-old boy was struck by a training ambulance and ended up under its wheels. He suffered a serious head injury, and help was called immediately. He was taken to a hospital in Rzeszów, where doctors fought for his life for several days before he died. The hospital and prosecutors in Krosno confirmed the death, and the local portal Krosno112 had first reported it, citing the boy's parents.

Prosecutors' investigation

Prosecutors in Krosno are leading the inquiry, and Marta Kolendowska-Matejczuk of the Krosno Regional Prosecutor's Office (Prokuratura Okręgowa w Krośnie) confirmed the death to Radio Eska and Fakt. The proceedings examine two offences: endangering others and negligently causing serious harm to health. Police detained three people in connection with the case, namely the ambulance driver and two female caregivers from the kindergarten. All three were questioned as witnesses and then released, and none of them has been charged. The prosecutor said the inquiry is ongoing and that the death does not change its course. Because no charges have been filed, the legal classification of the act has not been altered.

Reaction from the college

PANS in Krosno issued an official statement expressing deep condolences to the boy's parents, relatives and the kindergarten's teachers. Its rector, Zbigniew Barabasz, pledged full cooperation with law enforcement and said the college wants the causes of the tragedy properly established. He added that in more than 25 years of educational activity the college had never faced a similar situation. Prosecutors are withholding detailed information about the proceedings to protect the investigation and the people involved. The kindergarten and the college say they will work with the relevant services and are ready to take any steps needed to clarify the circumstances.

What remains unclear

The reports so far do not explain how the ambulance came to strike the child during the demonstration, and no official account of the sequence of events has been released. Sources agree on the location, the date of the accident and the fact of the death, but they say little about how the vehicle moved during the show. Since no one has been charged, the findings of the investigation could still change how the offences are classified.