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5-year-old girl falls to her death from 8th-floor balcony

17 Comments

A five-year-old girl fell to her death from the balcony of an 8th-floor apartment in Yokohama on Tuesday night.

According to police, Mizuki Tojo was found collapsed and bleeding on the ground outside the apartment building in Naka Ward by a passerby at around 6:30 p.m., Fuji TV reported. She was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police said Mizuki lived with her parents and two siblings. When the incident occurred, Mizuki's mother was taking care of her three-month-old son. Mizuki is believed to have climbed over the balcony railing.

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17 Comments
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I hate this kind of news so much.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

Dammit....what the hell??!?!? How many of these do we have to hear about?

You'll hear more. Consider that the Japanese population is half that of the US, yet lives in an area the size of California. There's no room for urban sprawl, thus high-rise apartments.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Sounds like the parents should be up for some neglect charges -- and none of the "The death is punishment enough" nonsense, because as I have said already in the numerous deaths preceding this one, since people think that way I would be on here commenting again the next day on a related article... and here I am.

What neglect? The article says the mom was at home tending to their 3 month old when this happened. The kid wasn’t home alone, the mom probably just had to feed or change the baby and took her eye off the 5 year old for a few minutes. I have a 5 year old myself, I never leave him home alone, but at the same time you don’t need to be constantly hovering over a kid that age to make sure they are safe, nor is it even remotely possible to do so especially if you also have a baby to take care of.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Ah, Japanese and their absolutely lacking understanding of possible dangers, meaning the mother should have thought of the possibility this can happen. Tune in next month for a similar new story, I guess.

5 ( +10 / -5 )

Dammit....what the hell??!?!? How many of these do we have to hear about?

4 ( +7 / -3 )

These stories are way too common. A serious national effort needs to be made to make these balconies and windows in high rises safe for kids. I moved out of one when my son was 2 in part motivated by the fact that there were several danger areas in the apartment where owing to the layout we could not guarantee that if we turned our back on him for a couple minutes (like every time you go to the bathroom) he wouldn’t be able to climb his way to a deadly fall. They are just death traps for young kids.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Again? Obviously there needs to be new rules ensuring safer balconies and windows.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

a child cannot be left out of sight.. must watch all the time. RIP young lady.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

May be the law needs to be changed to raise the minimum hight of these balconies, either way a very sad loss.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Young Kids by their human nature like to explore - so when faced with a boundary, the desire to see what is over it, it incredibly strong - this young girl could have been a future explorer for Japan - had their family lived in a ground floor apartment - such now is the anguish that they will be facing.

I have to agree with others here that suicide nets, need to be installed on high rise flats - but... not for the suicide purpose alone. Imagine a series of nets outer and inner that would allow people to escape a burning building - you jump from your floor to you floors level - if its an outer level, then you're rolled inwards towards the next level below which points you outwards and so on... in-out, a bit like a downwards spiral. End result - safety for all.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I am not sure about tort or child neglect laws In Japan, but building owners can be held liable for unsafe properties and the millions they would lose in lawsuits is the incentive to make sure their properties are safe. And parents can be charged with negligence, though this seems to be less of a deterrent because if you are willing to neglect or abuse your child, then why would a possible fine or jail time change your warped mind?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

PS. In Japan, no one likes to buy a property that has had a Death associated with it...

So go figure the cost benefit of such an installation.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What was a 5-year-old doing climbing over a balcony railing?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

marcelitoJune 17  06:40 pm JST

Bugle Boy of Company BToday  05:32 pm JST

I hate this kind of news so much.

Same here :(

Yes. You see this everyday. What the devil is going on here? This is terrible.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Mirai Hayashi: "How many of these do we have to hear about?"

Like I said a few days ago, and yesterday, "daily". Time to start putting up nets over all balconies, or else nets at the base of apartments to catch people who fall. The only reason the boy survived his fall a few days back was because he landed on some covering that broke his fall somewhat. RIP to the little girl. Sounds like the parents should be up for some neglect charges -- and none of the "The death is punishment enough" nonsense, because as I have said already in the numerous deaths preceding this one, since people think that way I would be on here commenting again the next day on a related article... and here I am.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

There's no room for urban sprawl, thus high-rise apartments.

High-rise apartments are not the problem here though.

-3 ( +7 / -10 )

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