10-Year-Old Girl Hit by Falling Pebbles from 11th-Floor Balcony During Queenstown Condo Swimming Lesson

Imagine going for a swim and suddenly feeling objects falling from the sky.

For a moment, you might think it’s hailing in Singapore — except, with our year-round sunny weather, that’s highly unlikely.

So, what could it be?

Unfortunately, for one 10-year-old girl, it turned out to be falling debris that hit her on the head during her swimming lesson.

The incident took place at a swimming pool on the seventh floor of a condominium in Queenstown.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the incident occurred at 11:25am on Sunday (16 February) at Queens Peak, located next to Queenstown MRT station.

Apart from the injured girl, about ten other students were attending the lesson at the time.

Heard Loud Thud from Unknown Objects

Throwing fish food into the water makes sense. But throwing pebbles from the top floor into a swimming pool below? That’s a whole different level of questionable.

However, given that the culprits were young children, it’s not entirely surprising.

The girl’s mother, Ms Zhuang, told Shin Min Daily News that that everything was going as usual until she and other parents heard loud thuds and saw unknown objects falling from above.

The swimming lessons were going as per usual until loud noises and thuds of unknown objects falling from above could be heard. This caused panic for everyone, such as those attending the swimming lessons and parents nearby.

As more objects fell one after another, parents started shouting warnings and waved for their children to quickly get out of the pool.

As her daughter exited the pool, she was seen clutching her forehead, visibly in pain.

Parents Called the Police and Informed Security Guard

Ms Zhuang later realised that the objects were black pebbles, around 7cm in diameter. Some landed on the pool deck, while others plopped into the water.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed swelling and scratches on her daughter’s left forehead.

pebbles-thrown-condo-girl-injured
Image: Shin Min Daily News

Suspecting that fragments from an exploding pebble had caused the injuries, she and her husband immediately called the police and informed the condominium’s security guard.

An ambulance soon arrived, and medical personnel assessed the girl’s injuries. Thankfully, they confirmed it was a superficial wound as there was no dizziness or vomiting.

Given the circumstances, the family decided against sending her to the hospital and is still under observation.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told Mothership that they received a call for assistance at 1 Dundee Road at approximately 11:40am.

SCDF paramedics assessed one person for minor injuries, but the individual declined to be taken to the hospital.

Pebbles Thrown from 11th Floor Balcony

When the police arrived to investigate, they discovered that the pebbles had been thrown by a two-year-old boy from an 11th-storey balcony.

Officers advised the child’s parents to remove the pebbles from their balcony to prevent future incidents.

But here’s what was upsetting for Ms Zhuang. Before the toddler’s parents came down to apologise, Ms Zhuang and other parents had already spotted a man in a red shirt looking down from the balcony.

Later, it was revealed that this man was the boy’s father. However, he did not immediately come down to check on the injured child or apologise — something that Ms Zhuang felt could have resolved the matter more quickly without police involvement.

Lesson for Everyone

Eventually, the two-year-old boy’s parents, holding their son in their arms, came down to apologise.

They explained that they were busy at the time and had hired a babysitter.

Unfortunately, in a moment of unsupervision, their son had managed to get to the balcony and toss pebbles over the edge.

While Ms Zhuang understood that accidents happen, she stressed that parents need to be responsible for supervising and educating their children. She urged families with young kids to remove hazardous items like pebbles, pots, and small toys from balconies to prevent such incidents.

Although this time her daughter was only hit by debris, she was worried to think about what could have happened if an entire pebble had struck her head or face.