A six-year old girl died after falling from a kitchen window on the 11th floor on Tuesday (4 June).
The mother of the young girl is currently pursuing a three-year nursing diploma at Nanyang Polytechnic. She explained that she usually dropped her daughter off at the childcare centre. Unfortunately, the centre was only open for half a day on the day of the incident. With her husband at work and older son at a student care centre, the woman was left with no choice but to leave her daughter at home alone in order to attend her classes.
The distraught mother rushed home after classes ended around 5pm and found the kitchen windows open. She looked out and saw paramedics surrounding her daughter on the ground floor. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene at Block 637 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6.
The mother had just enrolled in the course in April, hoping to get a better job once she graduated. She wanted to earn more to provide a better life for her children. Straits Times reported that the mother told Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao that she regretted not locking the kitchen window before leaving or not calling home throughout the day to check on her daughter.
Straits Times also reported that a neighbour had heard the girl crying for her father for about two hours before the incident. The domestic worker who lived in the opposite block said she then heard a loud sound before the cries suddenly stopped. When she looked out, she saw the girl lying on the ground, motionless.
Police investigations are currently ongoing.
Lianhe Wanbao reported that the girl’s funeral took place on Wednesday.