Five-Year-Old Girl Falls To Death From Dubai High-Rise

KEY POINTS

The little girl fell through a small window of their apartment on the 9th floor of their building in Dubai
A neighbor of the victim's family said the window was too small for a child to get through
The body of the girl will be flown back to India for her last rites

A five-year-old Indian girl died from an accidental fall in Dubai Saturday. The Dubai police confirmed that the victim, identified as Yara Mariyam, daughter of Kozhikode natives Junaid and Asma, had died after falling from their high-rise building in Al Qusais, where she lived with her family.

The police said the Indian girl fell to death through a small window of their apartment unit on the 9^th floor of the building near Al Bustan Centre. The accident took place around 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 10 while she was reportedly playing with her sister.

A neighbor of the Indian family told the police it was difficult to imagine how the child fell through the window since it was too small. "It is a very small window and almost physically impossible for a child to get through," the neighbor told Khaleej Times. "I am not sure how it happened, but it is heartbreaking," the neighbor added, noting that Mariyam was an active and sweet girl who always smiled.

The family of the victim is expected to fly Mariyam's body back to India for burial after completing official documentation in the UAE. They will perform her last rites at their residence in India's southern state of Kerala.

This is not the first time a child has fallen to death in the country. In fact, several cases of children falling from open windows and balconies of high-rises were reported last year, including a five-year-old girl who fell after she sneaked into the balcony of her family's apartment on the 9^th floor.

Back in March, an autistic six-year-old child also fell to death from an open window of his family apartment on the 11^th floor of a high-rise building in Sharjah's Abu Shagarah area. The Somalian boy's family told the police the child managed to reach the window by climbing a chair.

Authorities declared the boy dead on the spot and transferred his body to the forensic department to determine the cause of the death. His case was referred to the public prosecution.

A month prior to the incident, an eight-year-old Arab child had also fallen from a high-rise building on Hamad bin Abdullah Street in Fujairah. The Fujairah Police responded to the accident and rushed the child to the hospital but he did not survive.