3-year-old Hong Kong girl rescued from narrow canopy outside fourth-floor window by passers-by; mother arrested upon returning home
- Two men, who were on their way to work, spot child trapped between metal bars of clothes-drying rack outside six-storey housing block in Sham Shui Po
- Police arrest mother on suspicion of ill-treatment or neglect of child, with source saying investigation suggests girl was asleep when 44-year-old left flat
A three-year-old Hong Kong girl has been rescued from a narrow canopy outside the window of a fourth-floor flat after two passers-by rushed to her aid, with the child’s mother arrested upon returning home.
The child was spotted at around 8am on Tuesday, appearing to be trapped between the metal bars of a clothes-drying rack outside a six-storey housing block on Wong Chuk Street in Sham Shui Po.
Police said the girl’s 44-year-old mother had gone out of the subdivided flat, leaving the girl on her own inside.
A source familiar with the case said an initial investigation suggested the girl was asleep when her mother left on a shopping errand.
“Before the mother’s return, the girl woke up, climbed out of the window [that did not have a grille], and then became trapped between the metal bars of a clothes-drying rack,” the insider said.
Two men, who were on their way to work, called emergency services before running inside the building to rescue the child.
A photograph taken by one onlooker showed the girl had managed to slip between a gap between two bars of the drying rack and was standing on the narrow iron canopy.
