SHARJAH // A seven-year-old boy has died after falling eight floors from a balcony at his family’s home while trying to feed pigeons.
The boy was left unattended and fell from the apartment building on Sunday evening.
Sharjah Police received a call at 6pm and sent crews, but the child died at the scene.
“It’s a tragic accident. There have been similar incidents over the past few years,” said Col Sultan Al Khayal.
“We urge the families to keep a close eye on their children so that these incidents don’t happen again.”
Last year, four children in the UAE were killed or seriously injured after falling from windows or balconies.
Dr Nabil Sulaiman, head of family medicine and behavioural sciences at Sharjah University, said parents or carers should keep a closer eye on their children.
“My sympathies go out to the parents. They must be devastated for their loss,” Dr Sulaiman said.
“Security measures should be taken to prevent such accidents from happening again, such as protective bars that can be installed on windows.
“As for balconies, parents should always be there with the children to monitor their activities and make sure it’s locked and the child can’t access it without an adult present.”
In March last year, a four-year-old boy died after falling from a window in his family’s sixth-floor apartment building in Muweilleh, also in Sharjah.
A neighbour saw the Pakistani child peering from a window before falling.
That same month, a Syrian girl, 9, died after falling from the eighth floor of a building in Hamdan Street, Abu Dhabi, and a boy suffered a fractured skull after falling from the balcony of his home in Ajman.
In August that year, a two-year-old girl fell to her death from the balcony of her family’s 14th-floor apartment in Sharjah.
She was standing on furniture close to the window when she lost her balance and fell.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
