Girl falls to her death from 11th floor of apartment

She slipped through open window while fitting curtains, family says



A 13-year-old girl fell to her death from the 11th floor of this building on Al Falah Street in Abu Dhabi.

Image Credit: Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News

 Abu Dhabi: A 13-year-old Indian girl plunged to death from her 11th floor apartment on Al Falah Street on Saturday afternoon, a family member of the deceased told Gulf News yesterday.

Asma, an eighth grade pupil, fell down through the window of the apartment while she was trying to fit a curtain on the window, Zakaria Ahmad, her paternal uncle said.

Her family hails from Kasargode district in Kerala. "She had climbed over a stool to reach the curtain rail but slipped from the stool and fell down through the window which was kept opened," Ahmad explained.

State of shock

He said the incident happened at 12.30pm. Ahmad said his niece's parents or other members of the family were not in a position to speak as they were in a state of shock.

Asma was studying at Abu Dhabi Indian School.

"She was a very nice girl", V.K. Mathu, the principal of the school, said. "The school will conduct a condolence meeting in the next assembly, that is on Tuesday," he said. An eyewitness said the girl was seen lying in a pool of blood on a side of the building.

"Her mother and a brother rushed to the scene and after looking at the girl's face, the mother fainted," claimed the eyewitness who did not want to be named. "The shocked brother was making frantic phone calls, probably to his father or other family members," he said.

Long-time residents

People living in the area were totally shocked and everybody was sad and gloomy, he said.

"I could not sleep yesterday [Saturday] night… the innocent face of the girl lying in the pool of blood was haunting me," he said. The police reached the scene immediately and cordoned off the area.

A neighbour said the family has been living in the one bedroom flat of the building for a long time.

The girl is survived by father, mother and two brothers. Abdul Razak, her father, runs three computer shops in the capital and the mother is a homemaker.

An official spokesman of Abu Dhabi Police said the details of the investigation were not readily available.