BY PETER KARANJA
A nine-year old child was lucky to survive after falling from the fourth floor of a residential building in Nairobi’s Komarock area.
The boy is said to have fallen from the fourth floor after being pushed by another child while playing on December 25, 2021.
“I heard a loud thud, followed by noises coming from other children who were out playing. At first I thought it was the normal games, but the heard distress calls.”
“I rushed outside the house only to hear a child calling from the water tank,” a resident living on the ground floor of the building told Mwanahabari.co.ke.
The caretaker of the said building told Mwanahabari.co.ke that the child was lucky that he landed on the giant plastic water tank.
“I am sure it would have been a different story. He probably would have died had he hit the concrete floor at the base of the base of the building,” said the caretaker.
The child is said to have crashed through the lid of the tank – and landed inside the water.
“The tank was full of water, and imagine the little boy cannot swim. He had to be fished out by the neighbors before drowning,” added the caretaker.
The child is doing fine – and did not sustain any major injury. The child is back playing with other children – Mwanahabari can confirm.
A recent study showed conducted showed that 77% of apartment falls involved apartments, and most occurred around noon or evening meal times.
Of apartment falls, 52% fell from windows, 45% from balconies, and 3% from unknown sites.
Also, the research showed that two factors are important in falls from apartment windows and balconies: balcony rails more than 4 inches (10 cm) apart, and windows positioned low to the floor.
Parents have been advised to watch over their children whenever they are out playing.