Some Claim Apartment Complex Is Unsafe For Children

It was a tragic accident that has left a family devastated and neighbours in shock – the sudden fall of an 18-month-old baby from an apartment on 7 Crescent Place in the Danforth and Victoria Park area Sunday afternoon. The child didn’t survive the fall and his mother had to be sent to hospital after being overcome with grief.

Some residents in the complex claim unsafe conditions in the building may have contributed to the accident.

“That’s a small net, so when you push it, anybody can go through,” said neighbour Neyaz Morshed, inspecting the thin mesh covering the windows.  “This is not safety, especially for the children.”

“If you have a bed like, you know, right beside the window, he can fall down easily.”

Another thing residents say makes the building unsafe is a large gap between the balcony and the wall.

“Let’s say you are playing something and the ball went through the hole and you’re trying to look and then you can fall down easily,” Morshed adds.

Some residents have put up makeshift barriers like pieces of wood to close the gap, but most other don’t have anything in place.

For those who call the complex home, the incident was extremely shocking.

“I just heard screaming, so I ran across, and at that time I seen the mother screaming out loud. She’s like ‘My son, my son, he’s gone,’ and she threw herself on the ground and the father was just panicking,” recalled one rattled witness.

Here are some ways to keep your child safe near open windows and balcony ledges this summer.

• Install window safety devices on all windows two metres (six and a half feet) above the ground.
• These devices keep windows from opening more than 10 centimetres (four inches).
• Place cribs, beds and other furniture away from the window.
• Don’t rely on window screens to keep kids safe. Window screens are not strong enough to prevent kids from falling out of the window.
• Keep chairs and other objects that a child can climb on away from the railings of balconies.
• Always supervise a child on a balcony.
• Be wary of window blind cords that are reachable by small hands and can choke a child.
• If you don’t have any of these devices, keep the windows closed.

Source: Safe Kids Canada