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Toddler falls to his death from sixth floor balcony

The toddler, Muhammad Zain Saleem, had been left unsupervised for a few moments when he toppled over from the balcony at around 2.30pm, according to Nazia, his bereaved mother.

The toddler had climbed up a sofa set placed next to the wall in the balcony of the house on the sixth floor and fell over. He died on the spot while his mother, cousins, and aunt realised he was missing just a few moments later.

He was the only child of the couple, Muhammed Saleem and Nazia, who moved to the UAE three years ago after getting married.

Talking to Khaleej Times, Zain’s mother Nazia, a teacher in a local school, said she had just returned from work. “We share the apartment with my brother, his wife and kids. Probably, my nephew left the balcony door open by mistake giving Zain a chance to enter the balcony and climb over the sofa set,” she explained.

“He was a very active child and had just started walking. Unfortunately, I was in the other room while my sister-in-law also took her younger child to the other room to change him after he came back from school. We just left him alone for a few minutes,” she sobbed.

“When I came back into the room, I felt he was missing as he did not respond to my calls. I checked behind the sofa as he was naughty and normally hid behind it playfully,” said Nazia.

It was a while later that Nazia heard shouts from down below and a knock at the door. “I rushed him to Al Qassimi hospital where doctors said he had died instantly due to head injury,” she added.

Nazia’s brother, who did not wish to be named, said, “We do not blame anybody as it was an accident.”

The duty officer at Al Gharb Police Station, Lt Ahmed Muzzafar Al Zarouni, confirmed the incident saying that the body had been handed over to the parents as no foul play had been suspected. After completing the formalities, Zain’s body was flown to Islamabad yesterday evening for burial.

• UAE