News

6YO Girl Falls To Her Death After Being Left Home Alone With Open Window Grills

2019-06-07 , 12:00 pm

On Tuesday (June 4), tragedy struck a six-year-old girl’s family when she fell to her death.

The incident happened at Block 637 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, where the girl reportedly fell from the 11th floor.

Home Alone

According to the Straits Times, her mother usually drops her off at a daycare centre during the day.

But on that fateful day, the daycare centre only operates half-day so she decided to leave her alone at home.

Her mother says that she regrets not calling up to check on her daughter, or locking the windows before leaving the house.

Crying for her father

The accident happened at around 5 pm. A domestic helper who lived in the opposite block, Letecia, said that she heard the girl crying for her father for about 2 hours before she fell.

She also said, “She was crying for about 10 minutes at about 3 pm. I could see her from the kitchen.”

In addition, she also said that the window grilles in the girl’s home were left open.

An hour later, she heard the girl crying again and saw her looking out of the kitchen window to look for her father. She was spotted standing near the kitchen window about three times over a period of three hours.

At one point, she was even seen extending half her body out of the window in search of her father.

She then heard the crying again, but it stopped abruptly.

This prompted her to look out of the window to check, where she saw the girl’s motionless body lying on the ground. She then quickly alerted her employer to call the police.

Attempted Landing

According to the Chinese newspaper Lianhe Wanbao, a half-opened umbrella was spotted next to the girl’s body.

People speculate that the girl might have tried to use it as a parachute landing, as seen in some cartoons.

There were no other adults present at the scene of the accident.

An hour after it happened, an elderly lady who is believed to be the girl’s grandmother rushed to the scene. She was so distraught that she was unable to speak to the police.

At 5:38 pm, the police verified that it was a case of unnatural death. Investigations are still ongoing.

Parents and sibling

A neighbour told the Straits Times that the girl’s parents moved into the unit 8 years ago after they got married.

Both of them are working parents, and regularly take turns to send their son to primary school and their daughter to her daycare centre.

Precautionary Steps for Safety at Home

If you have young children at home, be sure to take any precautionary measures to keep them safe.

Improving window safety plays a big role in that as well. Although window grilles are a safety precaution, they are useless if they’re not locked. Remove any furniture near windows as well, so that they do not have any surfaces to climb up.

Leaving a young child alone at home is a big no-no as well. Experts warn against it. Simply because curiosity will get the better of them.

And lastly, warning a young child about the dangers. Home is supposed to be a safe place, but there is still some form of danger within it.

Here’s to a safer home environment.