In Belgium, a terminally ill child has become the first to be euthanised under new legislation.

The head of the federal euthanasia commission told the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad it was an exceptional case of a child with a terminal illness.

The country's euthanasia age restrictions were lifted in 2014.

Belgium is the only country in the world that allows the medically assisted mercy killings of children of any age.

The procedure can only happen if the children are in the last stages of an incurable disease.