A boy was reportedly home alone die after falling from the eleventh floor of a building in Linh Đàm urban area in Hoàng Mai district.Poor safety in high-rise buildings in big cities are a danger to residents living there, particularly children. — Photo vnexpress.net

HÀ NỘI — Poor safety in high-rise buildings in big cities are a danger to residents living there, particularly children.

Several tragic accidents in high-rise apartments have been reported recently due to poor safety measure for windows and balconies.

The latest accident was the death of six-year-old boy in Hà Nội last month, Lao Động (Labour) newspaper reported.

The boy was reportedly home alone die after falling from the eleventh floor of a building in Linh Đàm urban area in Hoàng Mai district.

Earlier, a child aged six in Long Biên District’s Việt Hưng urban area died after falling from a sixth floor balcony.

According to the newspaper’s survey, balcony and window designs in some buildings in Hà Nội such as Linh Đàm, Trung Hòa-Nhân Chính or Nam Trung Yên are still unsafe.

Many of the high-rise apartments were designed without window bars.

In some buildings, the distance between safety bars was too large and easy for children to climb.

According to Ministry of Construction design standards, bars are needed in apartments from the ninth floor upward and must be at least 1.4m in height.

Dr Phạm Sỹ Liêm, vice chairman of Việt Nam Construction Federation, said poor safety in high-rise apartments’ railings and balconies was due to design error.

According to him, railings in high buildings must be at least 1.2m tall.

Balconies must be designed with vertical bars to prevent children climbing up easily, he said.

Trần Ngọc Mai, a Hanoian mother, said her husband made iron cages around the balcony to prevent their boy climbing.

Col Nguyễn Ngọc Châu, head of Hà Nội Fighting Police No 8 also said that the main cause of accidents in high-rise buildings was poor design.

Railings and balconies were not high enough, leading to tragedies, he said.

 - VNS