Girl plunges to her death from sixth floor of Hillbrow flats
A FOUR-YEAR-OLD girl playing in the corridor on the sixth floor of a block of flats in Hillbrow fell to her death last night.
Michelle Ramaufi fell five storeys onto an open, enclosed courtyard in the Parklane Hotel when the window she was leaning against gave way.
The plastic toys she had been playing with still lay metres from the open window pane that claimed her life.
Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (JEMS) spokesman divisional chief Synock Matabako said the incident took place between 7.30pm and 7.45pm.
When emergency personnel arrived just before 8pm, there was little they could do. Michelle was dead, her neck and pelvis broken. Shattered glass surrounded her body, and residents gathered and stared from the floors above.
“She was playing with four other children in the corridor. They told us she fell against the window,” said Matabako.
Children also told Matabako that there was a big crack in the window. There are many other such windows in the flat.
Michelle’s mother Sandra was too traumatised to speak last night.
JEMS chaplains were called in to provide her with trauma counselling and support.
She sat close to her daughter’s body, crying, and, after Michelle’s body was removed, she followed tradition and stayed behind to clean the blood from the scene.
Matabako said Michelle was dressed in her school uniform.
The family had just moved into the Parklane Hotel just three days ago. They had been living in Cosmo City.
The residents watching did not know Michelle. “She had just moved in” was all they could say about her.
This is the second time in a month that JEMS personnel had to respond to a child falling from a building in Hillbrow.
A three-year-old girl fell to her death from the ninth floor of a flat on the corner of Banket and Goldreich streets last month.
“This has become a serious concern for JEMS. We would like to advise anyone that if a building is unsafe, they should not move in,” said Matabako.
Residents of the Parklane Hotel said they had long been concerned about the unsafe conditions in the flat.
Getting to the sixth floor where Michelle lived takes a climb on the fire escape.
Along the corridors, many of the window panes closest to the floor are broken or missing. Some of them are boarded up with movable plywood.
“We only allow our children to play indoors,” said a resident who didn’t want to give her name. “It is just too dangerous.”
Matabako said the police would investigate Michelle’s death.