Emotions ran high when members of a martial arts club held a memorial for a child who died by drowning in a crash in the Shark Hole Hill area in Hamilton Parish three years ago this month.

Taz Jerome Paul Boyles was less than a week shy of his 1st birthday when he drowned after the car he was in ploughed through a fence and plunged into the sea.

Rescuers managed to save the female driver of the car and an older child.

However, it took several minutes before they were able to reach the infant, who was strapped in a baby seat in the front passenger seat.

The Bermuda Police Service have been asked whether the matter remains under investigation.

On Monday afternoon, students, instructors and supporters of the Tabata-Ha Shotokan Karate-Do martial arts school congregated at the site on Harrington Sound Road to pay tribute to the child.

The group placed teddy bears, balloons and a certificate honouring Taz at the scene as passing motorists stopped and paid respects to the baby.

They were also responding to an incident last weekend in which someone removed similar items that the child’s family had placed at the site recently to celebrate what would have been his fourth birthday.

In a Facebook post, a relative of the child said that the memorial area is usually well maintained and as such she was unsure why the items — including his first teddy bear — were taken away.

Andrea McKey, an instructor at the martial arts school, said the students used the first period of their classes to remember the child.

She said: “It is very important to do this. We are a community karate school and we like to do work throughout the community.

“It is good for the students to see and take part in something like this because it is showing compassion when there is a bad situation and also because we are a family.”

Sensei Charles Butterfield added: “A lot of people think karate is just kicking and punching, but it is about being respectful and giving back.

“We like to give back and we make sure that our students learn that we give back to the community as well as learning self-defence and respect.”