A 3-year-old boy died after being crushed in an automobile elevator in a parking garage at an apartment complex in Ibaraki, Osaka, on Monday, police said.
The boy, Shotaro Sato, lived in the complex and was scheduled to enter nursery school the same day.
The boy's mother, 40, whose name is being withheld, was operating the elevator to bring their the car up from its underground parking space, police said, adding they are trying to determine how the accident happened.
The boy was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead the same day.
The apartment is about 700 meters south of Minami-Ibaraki Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line.
