Three-year-old Iraqi refugee dies in accident while playing at a 'welcome party' in Germany

He was attending the party with his parents and nine-year-old brother

A refugee mother waits with her child in a bus after arriving in Germany (BENJAMIN WESTHOFF/EPA)

A three-year-old refugee from Iraq died at a welcoming party shortly after he arrived in Germany, having undertaken a 3,000 mile journey across Europe.

The boy, who has not been named, was playing on rope hanging between two large flower pots.

One of the pots fell over as he played, crushing him.

He was attending the party with his parents and nine-year-old brother in the town of Eschweiler, in the west of the country.

The party was organised by local residents and aid groups for newly-arrived refugees. The boy and his family had arrived in Germany just four weeks earlier, after having made the long and difficult journey from Iraq.

Speaking to Reuters, state prosecutor Jost Schuetzeberg said that an autopsy had been ordered and added that there were no suspicions that a crime had been committed.

A spokesman for the city, Rene Costantini, said the boy's family had been offered psychological help and support, calling it "a very tragic accident."