3-year-old boy falls to death from 8th floor of apartment in Kochi

Damn. This happens just too many times. Starts to look suspicious.

For the safety of your children you must be prepared not to make a foothold on the balcony if you live in a high rise apartment house.. Don't leave things around (climbable items) on the balcony as much as possible. Never leave your child alone and always keep an eye on them. And never sleep when kids would be up and about unattended.

CrazyJoe, spot on and so easy to do and realize. It's a damn shame when parents do not expect the worst.

Knox Harrington - We bought a 20 y/o apartment and it had child-safe latches on all the sliding doors leading to the balconies, as do most modern apartments. They have an extra little button on them that must be engaged to open the latch. However, it is possible the three year old could work out how to open the door (if it was locked), but it would not be possible for a three year old to climb a 1m balcony fence. There must have been something on the balcony (table, chair, crate) for him to climb on and fall over the fence. If a child dies in a totally preventable situation is it an accident or negligence?

The mother was quoted by police as saying her son might have gone out onto the balcony looking for her.

Why did the child have access to the balcony when she not supervising him? Unattended children dying while their parents pop out for a second to throw out the trash or something happens far too frequently here. If bringing your child along with you is "impossible" then you should at least have your house childproofed.

Again and again with this. they really need to make these balconies safer for infants and children.

the child’s mother had taken the garbage out of the apartment when the incident occurred at about 8:30 a.m.

facepalm award!

1) the mother should have taken the kid with her.

2) the balcony door should have been locked with child-safe locks, which they do have.

3) what was on the balcony that allowed a three-year-old to climb over a 1m fence?

I would never let my kids play on the balcony and there was never anything on the balcony that would give them purchase on the fence. Complacency kills kids!

Why did the child have access to the balcony...

I doubt the kid had "access to" the balcony. A three year old can easily open one of those doors if they are of normal Japanese standard. The "locks" on them are absolutely ridiculous. Knowing this, it would probably have been better if the mother would have brought the kid with her. I have a hard time to see why any parent with a three year-old would leaving their offspring aline at home, if even for a minute.

A tragic accident.

1 meter high balcony wall on the 8 th floor? That is an accident waiting to happen.

I take the trash out late at night anyways when most people are asleep to avoid the garbage police(old geezers) who are out in the daytime or morning looking for violators.