1-year-old girl falls to her death from 3rd-floor apartment

What a sad story. Poor family.

Imagine being the father and having to call the wife to tell her what happened. Absolute worst nightmare.

The father had his hands full with the older kids presumably, so quite easy to miss one going astray.

One would hope that this was simply a terrible accident.

@MJ- I look after kids often and Oldman is right. The 1 yr old could have been:

-taking a nap

-watching a video and another kids needed assistance to the bathroom (potty training)

-father could have been cleaning up a spilt mess

-etc.

A kid alone in the room does not mean a parent is careless. This is a sad story end of story, and as a caring parent the family has my condolences.

What kind of window is 60 cms off the ground to a straight fall?

How sad. This is just plain sad...

Seems to me that the article lacks enough detail to pass judgment.

All of us who have (or had) young kids (mine are grown) know very well they move fast. When you are looking after the needs of one the other(s) may scamper away. I guess I am negligent as there were times I was not in the same room as my kids. I am certain all of the posters on Japan Today have always remained in the same room as their children. Yes, we secured closets, cabinets, windows, etc. but there were times when, as human beings, we forgot to re-secure them or even when one of the other kids forgot to do so.

I get the outrage. Yes, kids should be protected but if you want to pass judgment on this guy then try to get more information then short 5 paragraph snippet published on a foreign language website.

@ Ramzel (et al) " it was merely a terrible accident" that part is true but it wouldn't have happened if he had secured the windows in a third-floor apartment with four children. Back in the day before I moved our grandchildren in with us I put locks on the Windows because it was 7 floors straight down to concrete. It's not rocket science

I agree that, based on the reported facts, the parents are negligent. And I can’t help but make a leap: how often do you see small children riding up front in cars without a seatbelt, or, less often but still pretty common, riding the train alone or with only a sibling?

There seems to be a false sense of safety regarding children in Japan that drives me a bit crazy.

Poor baby, and I feel badly for the father. These things can happen in an instant.

Only an inhumane monster would even think of casting judgement and blame here.

RIP.

@ oldman, I don't care if you call me and inhumane monster if that guy had done his job the baby would still be alive where's your sympathy for the one who lost their life because the father didn't do what a father should have done

so, living with 3 kids in apartment that has 60cm border window ( unsecured ) with tv stand of convenient height placed just near it...

Sorry, the parents are 100% at fault.It doesnt take huge amount of wealth or even common sense to prevent accident like that...

Mari went into a room by herself, climbed up onto a 50-cm-high TV stand beside an open window, which was 60 cms above the floor, and accidentally fell out

EDIT: “Mari went into a room by herself, climbed up onto a 50-cm-high TV stand, which had carelessly been left deside an open window 60cm above the floor, and fell out due to her careless and stupid parents!”

Negligence. Plain and simple.

@Michael - I see your point. However, consider the possibility that the windows were secured by either he or his wife and one of the other kids entered and removed the securing means (happened to me before with a cabinet - fortunately with no bad results). I think if people want to rush to judgment against another person who just experienced this type of tragedy it is prudent to have all of the facts.

Also, 60cm for a window does seem very low - it would also be interesting to have more information about this as well. That is a little less than the height of my knee. Climbing onto a TV stand and falling through a window of that height means the child would have likely fallen down through the window rather than climbed out of the window and fell.

Wow, just terrible stuff!

I would be scared standing next to an openable window that was only 60cm off the ground.

Why are they allowed to exist?

My daughter started walking at 9 months old and started climbing on furniture at 11 months only. After she took her first steps, we child proofed EVERYTHING. Made sure that all doors and windows were locked, and never took our eyes off her.

With 3 older siblings, you'd think that the parents would realize that toddlers will get into EVERYTHING. But I get some people never learn

Usually I would jump on the bandwagon, but if you look at the facts, it was merely a terrible accident.

4 kids, 1 parent, one terrible window/TV stand set up. That's it.

Window locks. You can open the window enough to let in the air, but not enough for a child to fall out. The locks are cheap and easy to use. Why aren't they compulsory?

This is negligence pure and simple. You've got four children and you didn't think to secure the windows? It only cost 108 yen per window, just go to Daiso.

Some 12 months old kinds can very well climb more than their own height. Remember, humans are related to primates. Just search youtube for climbing babies, and be amazed (if you've never seen this before).

A kid alone in the room does not mean a parent is careless. This is a sad story end of story, and as a caring parent the family has my condolences.

How dare you not be outraged not only at this parent, but at Japanese people as a whole for allowing this to happen, based on the few lines of text in the article. How dare you.

If there is negligence, it is in the design/setup of the apartment, not the parent failing to watch the child every single minute.

60cm off the floor is not safe, probably even without a tv stand. Many homes with small children will have a step of some sort for the child to use the bathroom sink. All the child has to do is pick up the step and carry it over to the window....

What are the safety rules ?

60cm above ground is far too low. 1 meter is minimum expected.

Then having kids, you must close all windows if you live in apato.

Otherwise buy a single storey house. Life has no price.

RIP

How many times do we have to read this before they start putting safety nets towards the bottom of buildings?

Is allowing a young kid to fall from a 3rd story window fundamentally different than allowing a young child to die in a locked and over heated car?

Sadly, parents never learn here.