A nine-year-old Syrian girl plunged to her death from an eighth floor apartment on Hamdan Street in Abu Dhabi.
The Abu Dhabi Police Operations Room received the call reporting that a child had fallen out of one of the buildings. The Emergency and Public Safety Department’s ambulance immediately transferred the child to Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, where she was found to be in critical condition.
Upon receiving the call, the Ambulance Emergency first response vehicle, a criminal patrol and an investigation officer from the Madinat Police Station, were dispatched to the scene of the accident, along with teams from the Crime Scene Investigations Department at Abu Dhabi Police and a Criminal Investigation Department patrol, as well as a Security Media Patrol.
Major General Nasser Lakhrebani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of HH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior, expressed his deep regret for the unfortunate recurrence of incidents involving children falling from the windows and balconies of their homes. “The Ministry of Interior is endeavoring to address this issue by enhancing awareness regarding the protection of children from the risks of windows and balconies.”
He stressed the importance of the role of parents in ensuring safety of homes and children's play areas in order to prevent such tragic incidents. Furthermore, he underscored the keenness of the Ministry of Interior, in pursuance of the directives set by Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, to strengthen cooperation with partners in the area of child protection and safety.
On the same note, he urged families to not let children sit in dangerous areas in residential apartments and villas, and give more priority to looking after them. He also recommended landlords, developers and consultants to take child protection requirements into consideration when designing buildings.
The Secretary General, Chairman of the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior, urged the development of initiatives and projects related to the protection of children from the risk of accidents and disasters. “Providing full care for the youth is one of the most important duties of the family,” said Major General Al Nuami. He also stressed the importance of taking safety precautions to reduce domestic incidents involving children, which are the main causes of injuries and deaths among children. Falling from balconies and window is common, and often takes the lives of children at an early age.
For his part, Lieutenant Colonel Faisal Mohammed Al Shammari, Director of the Ministry of Interior’s Child Protection Center, urged parents to take safety precautions to reduce the occurrence of such incidents, particularly children falling out of windows. He also called for efforts from all parties concerned, noting the important role of consultancy offices, contracting companies, building owners, and all relevant entities to ensure safety requirements and specifications in buildings.
The Director of the Ministry of Interior’s Child Protection Center emphasized the need for the strict control of balcony use; not only for children, but for adults too, as falling from a balcony as high as two meters can be lethal. “For children, the spaces between the balcony railings are large compared to their size; and could threaten their life. They can easily slip between them and fall,” said Lieutenant Al Shammari.
He added: “The center has prepared a set of guidelines and tips to protect children from these risks. These guidelines focused on the importance of the surveillance of children when they approach windows, and urged that parents to close all windows for their safety, and to make sure that they close them tightly. The center also encouraged them to install metal bars on windows to prevent children from passing between them. The windows must also have a safety release mechanism in case of an emergency.” In conclusion, he pointed out that children do not realize the risks surrounding them, and that this is where the role of parents becomes crucial to protecting children from themselves and from others.
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The Arabic-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the Arabic-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.
Contacts
The UAE Minister of Interior's General Secretariat, Tactical Affairs and Security Media Department
Abu Dhabi Police GHQ - Security Media
Chris Cron +971-(0)-50-987-1317
E-mail: cron.media@hotmail.com
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