Boy, 9, crushed to death after jumping from truck as it careened towards cliff

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A heartbroken family have described the moment their nine-year-old son was crushed to death when he dove from his dad's pickup truck as it hurtled towards a cliff.

Tomos Rhys Bunford died after the Mitsubishi Warrior began speeding towards a sheer drop as he rode in it with his family on their rented farmland on Blaenllechau Farm in Ferndale, Wales in September 2021.

Speaking at Pontypridd Coroners’ Court on Tuesday, April 9, Tomos’ dad described making a split second decision to tell his family to throw themselves from the vehicle as he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop it from falling over the edge, reports the Mirror.Mum Louise Bunford told the inquest how she remembered pushing Tomos to get him as far away from the vehicle as possible.

She then grabbed hold of their youngest of three children - baby Clemmie - and hurled herself out of the vehicle too before throwing Clemmie as far as she could.Their oldest child, 15-year-old Gethin whose calves the family were on their way to when the tragic incident unfolded, did not manage to get herself out of the vehicle and was still beside Rhys in the front of the vehicle when it came to a sudden stop in a jack-knife position, with the truck and the tank having turned 180 degrees.The court heard evidence that many variables could have led to the vehicle turning in such a way, such as the heavy water tank putting too much pressure on the vehicle’s rear.