Sharjah authorities advised parents to be more vigilant about child safety.
A six-year-old Emirati girl died after a fridge fell on her at her home in Sharjah's Kalba area. The investigation revealed that the girl opened the refrigerator kept in the kitchen. She then tried to climb up using the racks to reach the top shelves, but the fridge fell on her, causing her fatal injuries, said a Kalaba Police official.
A family member heard a thud and rushed to the kitchen to find the girl crushed under the fridge. The child was found motionless and rushed to Al Fujairah hospital where she was declared dead on arrival. The hospital notified Al Fujairah Police and handed them over the report which was transferred to Kalba police station for further investigation.
Parental negligence takes toll
Col Sami Al Naqbi, Director-General of Sharjah Civil Defence Department, said: "The main reason why incidents like these continue to happen is because of parental negligence, lack of education and a failure to adhere to safety measures at home."
He pointed out that rules and awareness can decrease the number of such child-related accidents. The efforts of authorities have contributed to a great extent in reducing fatal fall of children from high rises during the last two years, he said.
Last year, the police spread awareness among the people and distributed brochures to educate parents about measures to be taken at home for child's safety: keeping out of reach sharp tools, chemicals, medicines and moving out furniture that could tip over any time, he said.
Brig Arif bin Hadda, another top cop, said: "The police carried out a number of awareness campaign to sensitise parents on preventing children from being hurt or killed in accidents or fall from balconies. Despite the awareness, incidents like these are taking a toll because children are left unattended and climb up to the windows and balconies using tables or other furniture, enter inside washing machine, pour chemicals on their bodies and so on."
"Families with young children should ensure a safe environment at home by installing iron bars if they have balconies, avoid using furniture with sharp-edges, keep away electricity extension devices and not leaving kids in the kitchen alone. Parents must be vigilant as children can get away from sight in the blink of an eye," he said.
Hanadi Saleh Al Yafei, director at the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and head of the organising committee of the Children Safety campaign, said: "We adopted a comprehensive strategy to promote community awareness among the parents and children to educate them about child's safety at home, on roads, and against cyber threats while using the internet."
A top official at Sharjah Municipality said that the civic body has made great efforts to ensure child safety and protection by upgrading rules, introducing new regulations and intensified inspections in buildings. It also continues its awareness campaign to educate parents and guardians about children's safety with a focus on ensuring safe environment at home.
"The child safety goal can not be achieved without joint efforts of the authorities and parents. Mothers should not depend on the maid to keep a watch on their children and stay cautious themselves. Parents must ensure that no item in the house poses any hazard or hurdle for the safe movement of the children," he added.
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