Major update in ‘murder’ of boy, 7, who plunged to his death off Stena ferry with mum in Baltic sea
POLICE are investigating the death of a boy, 7, who died along with his mum when they plunged from a ferry as a possible murder-suicide.
The mum and son - named as Paulina and Lech - both died when they fell 65ft from a Stena Line ship crossing the Baltic Sea.
Witnesses have now revealed new detail about the incident - revealing the boy was in a wheelchair when he fell over the edge.
And it is reported CCTV does not match up with the initial version of events that the mum jumped in to "save" the child.
Grażyna Wawryniuk, a spokesperson for prosecutors in Gdańsk, confirmed they are treating the case as a possible murder-suicide, reports BLT.
The mother and son were Polish nationals who had been travelling on a Stena Line passenger ship from Sweden to Poland.
But tragedy occurred on Thursday when the child fell off the vessel.
His mother was said to have jumped overboard in what was initially believed to be an attempted rescue.
But Stena Line spokesperson Agnieszka Zembrzycka cast doubt over this initial version of events - claiming the ship's CCTV footage did not support it.
Meanwhile, Polish rescue expert Michal Mieczkowski has told local media the ship's railings would have made an accidental fall impossible.
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Mr Mieczkowski said: "The barriers are at the height of my chest, and I am 180cm tall, so it could not have been an accidental fall.
"Either the child was climbing and the jolting or rocking of the ship caused him to lose his balance, or is this a suicide attempt?"
Ships and helicopters from Sweden and Nato units scrambled to save the pair, named locally as 36-year-old single mother Paulina and son Lech.
The two were later found in the freezing waters, approximately an hour after the alarm was raised.
But despite being taken by helicopter to Sweden's Karlskrona Hospital, they were both pronounced dead.
On Friday, Swedish prosecutors confirmed they had initiated a preliminary investigation into a possible murder, but said that no suspect had been identified.