Toddler dies after fall from Surrey highrise

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SURREY (NEWS1130) – A two-year-old girl has died after a fall from the ninth floor balcony of a Surrey highrise.

It happened just after 8 p.m. yesterday near 108th Ave and University Drive, near the Gateway SkyTrain Station. Mounties say the toddler managed to get out onto the balcony and crawl over the railing.

Russell Van Koll lives in building. He heard a ‘thud’ and went outside, where he found the little girl. He called 911. He and his father stayed with little girl until paramedics arrived minutes later.

“She was just lying face down on the little ledge… there’s a little gravel in the middle. But I didn’t see her fall or anything, just heard her,” he tells us.

“My dad jumped the ledge, the railing… ran down to make sure she was still breathing,” he adds. “She was just unconscious and barely breathing.  It was ….you can’t describe it.  It was just heartbreaking.”

He’s at a loss for words, finding it tough to deal with this traumatic experience.

We spoke with one mother who tells us, “It’s shocking.  I can feel for the mother. I mean, how that could’ve happened… They’re going to have to put more safety guards on these rails.  You hear that quite often about these highrises,” she adds.

“That’s a terrible situation. There are a lot of little children in the building, a lot of small children,” adds another neighbour.

“She was taken to hospital and pronounced dead around 930 p.m.,” explains RCMP Sergeant Paul Reshaur.

Reshaur tells us early indications suggest it was just a tragic accident, adding the parents were home. “In the warm weather, a lot of people have their windows and balcony doors open. In this case the balcony door was partly open.”

Reshaur encourages parents and guardians of young children to try to child-proof their homes.

“You want to really take a good assessment to make sure your child is unable to get over any obstacles, even a second floor window is enough to be fatal,” he points out.

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