Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

A five-year-old boy has accidentally shot his mum in the chest and killed her as she tried to take away a gun he was playing with in the house.

The 22-year-old mother, identified as Deliana Floriselda Gue Amalem, was shot in the thorax at her home in La Providencia in the municipality of Escuintla in the southern Guatemalan department of the same name.

According to local media, the boy found a gun in the house and his mother spotted him playing with it.

As she rushed to take the firearm off her young son, he accidentally pulled the trigger and shot his mother in the thorax, according to reports.

Neighbours called the emergency services and looked after the boy until they arrived.

Paramedics checked the mother, but could only confirm that she had died from the bullet wound.

Reports said that the local authorities sent forensics experts to investigate the scene and they found the gun on a wooden bench.

Meanwhile, the five-year-old boy, whose name has not been disclosed, will undergo therapy to help him cope with the loss of his mother, according to local media.

Reports did not mention the boy’s father or whether anyone else was at home during the incident.

The investigation is ongoing.

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