Soft landing saves home-alone toddler in fall from eighth floor
A toddler survived a fall from her family's eighth-floor flat in Shek Kip Mei yesterday when she landed in a flower bed.
Leung Hoi-ching's mother had left the two-year-old asleep alone while she went for a chat with neighbours, taking the girl's five-year-old sister with her.
Minutes later, the girl woke up, went to the balcony of the flat on a public housing estate and fell out of a window, police said. The window grille was unlocked, they said.
The girl remained in critical condition last night after being transferred from Caritas Medical Centre to Prince of Wales Hospital.
'Initial investigation showed that the girl climbed on top of a chair and then fell out of a window,' said Superintendent Kevin Sin Chi-sing, an assistant Sham Shui Po district commander.
'She fell straight to the flower bed below without hitting any plant or clothes rack and landed directly on soft soil, which apparently absorbed the force of her fall and saved her life.'
A man making a delivery nearby was the first to discover the Hoi-ching. He said he heard a bang and then saw her in the flower bed.
He told Cable TV: 'One of her legs was still moving a little bit.'
Her mother, 32, discovered the girl missing when she returned to the flat, police said.
The girl's sister needed treatment for shock.
Hoi-ching's father rushed back from Shenzhen to be with her.
Mr Sin said there was nothing at this stage to suggest the incident was anything other than an accident.
'We are still investigating whether the incident involves any negligence. At this stage, no one has been arrested,' he said.
A neighbour said the divorced mother moved to the flat on the Shek Kip Mei Estate with her two daughters several months ago and was not working.
It is understood social workers had been in contact with the family. Police said the Social Welfare Department was following up the case.
