SHARJAH, May 27 – A seven-year-old boy has died after falling from a thirteenth-floor apartment in Sharjah.
Police said the Indian child’s parents have been taken in for questioning following the tragedy at a building in Al Shuweihein area.
The Indian boy, identified as K.Gh.J., reportedly fell from the apartment’s balcony.
A Sharjah Police official confirmed that the parents are being questioned on suspicion of negligence because the child had been playing in the flat and had been climbing in and out on to the balcony.
The official said the police operation room received a call around 9am from eyewitnesses who reported the boy falling.
A team from Al Gharb police station attended the scene.
The body of the child was moved to Al Kuwaiti Hospital around 10.30am and then to the forensic laboratory.
The investigation into the incident is still ongoing and Sharjah Police are questioning witnesses.
Recently, in response to similar tragedies, Colonel Sultan Al Khayal, Director of Media and Public Relation Department at Sharjah Police, warned parents not to leave their children unattended at home and to instruct housemaids to keep a close watch on them.
Hazardous items should also be kept away from children’s reach, including kitchen knives and gas cylinders.
Police attributed the deaths to negligence.
Col Al Khayal urged the public to regularly lock their windows and to place aluminium barriers at windows to prevent children from falling out. People should also take care to store dangerous chemicals out of reach of children. These include detergents and other cleaning products.
The tragedy is the latest in a series of fatal falls of children from high-rise apartment blocks across the UAE within the last year. — IANS
