A hungry eight-year-old boy who was rummaging through a rubbish dump for scraps of food has died after he was run over by a binmen’s lorry.

Victor Sebastian Barreto, 8, nicknamed ‘Chicha’, was looking for food in a rubbish dump in the city of Parana, in the central Argentine province Entre Rios, on Sunday, 13th November, at around 7:40pm.

The young boy would typically wait, along with other kids, for the rubbish trucks to dump scraps of food thrown away by local restaurants from a nearby shopping centre but on that day, he was sadly run over by one of the municipal vehicles.

Sandra Villalba, the founder of a local organisation called the ‘Mensajeros de Francisco’ (‘Messengers of Francis’), which works with children in the area and with people with disabilities, told local media: “To save time, they wait two or three blocks away so they can get on the truck and grab what it brings. Such a sad tragedy.

“They say that Victor was playing, but no. He always waited for the trucks that brought the waste from fast food joints.”

According to witnesses, the child climbed onto the truck as it was arriving at the dump. He then reportedly slipped and fell under one of the truck’s wheels. The driver, who was not aware that the child was there, then allegedly reversed the vehicle and crushed Victor.

The young boy died instantly.

The driver, who has not been named, turned himself in at a local police station and gave a statement. The authorities then contacted the child’s family to notify them of his death.

The authorities are investigating the circumstances of his death.

The vehicle has been seized and an autopsy has been performed on the child’s body, with Victor now laid to rest in the local cemetery.

The investigation is ongoing.