Child dies after 15th-floor fall in East York
By Shawn Jeffords, Toronto Sun First posted: Saturday, July 18, 2015 06:33 PM EDT | Updated: Sunday, July 19, 2015 09:50 AM EDT
A five-year-old boy has died after he plunged from the 15th floor of an apartment building in East York Saturday.
The boy, who was said to have been visiting the building with family for Eid celebrations, fell from a window at 71 Thorncliffe Park Rd., near Overlea Blvd., just after 5 p.m.
Toronto Fire Services District Chief Stephan Powell said the child was rushed to the Hosiptal for Sick Children, but they were unable to save him.
Witnesses said the family was so distraught they had to be held back by emergency workers.
Powell said fire and EMS workers took care of the boy's mother in the aftermath of the incident.
"The mother was understandably distraught," he said. "We ended up with Toronto EMS looking after the mother."
Abbas Kolia, president of the Thorncliffe Park Tenants Association, arrived shortly after the boy fell.
Kolia helped hold back crying family members as they struggled to get into the ambulance with the boy.
"From the beginning to end, I tried to help the police and ambulance (personnel with the family)," he said.
The boy was Somalian and was visiting the building for Eid celebrations -- the conclusion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Kolia said.
Kolia said he wasn't sure how the boy could have fallen from the apartment since safety locks were installed four years ago to secure windows, doors and the balcony.
But Siony Olarte, a resident of the building for 20 years, said some residents have found ways to remove the safety locks in order to open their windows wider and let more air circulate through their units, as she pointed to windows that were wide open in the building.
She was shocked by the news of the incident, she said.
"You just never know what kids are going to do, even if you're in the kitchen, right ...? It's sad," Olarte said.
"There needs to be awareness promptly," resident Brian Shafisaid, adding that he hopes safety measures in the area highrises will be reviewed.
Child dies after 15th-floor fall in East York | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto S
TORONTO - No charges will be laid in a tragic case of a five-year-old boy who fell 15 floors to his death in Thorncliffe Park.
Toronto Police are calling Saturday’s incident death by misadventure.
“There’s no further investigation,” acting Staff-Ggt. Rita Morehouse said Sunday, adding an autopsy is still expected.
The boy was visiting family at an apartment building to mark Eid, she said. He was playing in the unit but when family went looking for him, they discovered he had fallen out of a window.
The tragic death mirrors that of three-year-old Wallace Passos, who fell 17 floors out of an apartment building in late April.
No charges in boy's fatal fall | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
It was reported on the news that a relative was holding the child. she accidentally dropped her cell phone out the window. she looked out of the window down below and accidentally dropped the child out the window. :shock:
By Shawn Jeffords, Toronto Sun First posted: Saturday, July 18, 2015 06:33 PM EDT | Updated: Sunday, July 19, 2015 09:50 AM EDT
A five-year-old boy has died after he plunged from the 15th floor of an apartment building in East York Saturday.
The boy, who was said to have been visiting the building with family for Eid celebrations, fell from a window at 71 Thorncliffe Park Rd., near Overlea Blvd., just after 5 p.m.
Toronto Fire Services District Chief Stephan Powell said the child was rushed to the Hosiptal for Sick Children, but they were unable to save him.
Witnesses said the family was so distraught they had to be held back by emergency workers.
Powell said fire and EMS workers took care of the boy's mother in the aftermath of the incident.
"The mother was understandably distraught," he said. "We ended up with Toronto EMS looking after the mother."
Abbas Kolia, president of the Thorncliffe Park Tenants Association, arrived shortly after the boy fell.
Kolia helped hold back crying family members as they struggled to get into the ambulance with the boy.
"From the beginning to end, I tried to help the police and ambulance (personnel with the family)," he said.
The boy was Somalian and was visiting the building for Eid celebrations -- the conclusion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Kolia said.
Kolia said he wasn't sure how the boy could have fallen from the apartment since safety locks were installed four years ago to secure windows, doors and the balcony.
But Siony Olarte, a resident of the building for 20 years, said some residents have found ways to remove the safety locks in order to open their windows wider and let more air circulate through their units, as she pointed to windows that were wide open in the building.
She was shocked by the news of the incident, she said.
"You just never know what kids are going to do, even if you're in the kitchen, right ...? It's sad," Olarte said.
"There needs to be awareness promptly," resident Brian Shafisaid, adding that he hopes safety measures in the area highrises will be reviewed.
Child dies after 15th-floor fall in East York | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto S
TORONTO - No charges will be laid in a tragic case of a five-year-old boy who fell 15 floors to his death in Thorncliffe Park.
Toronto Police are calling Saturday’s incident death by misadventure.
“There’s no further investigation,” acting Staff-Ggt. Rita Morehouse said Sunday, adding an autopsy is still expected.
The boy was visiting family at an apartment building to mark Eid, she said. He was playing in the unit but when family went looking for him, they discovered he had fallen out of a window.
The tragic death mirrors that of three-year-old Wallace Passos, who fell 17 floors out of an apartment building in late April.
No charges in boy's fatal fall | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
It was reported on the news that a relative was holding the child. she accidentally dropped her cell phone out the window. she looked out of the window down below and accidentally dropped the child out the window. :shock:
