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| Building where the tragedy occurred. (Google Maps photo) |
By Vir B. Lumicao
A Filipina fell to her death while
cleaning a window on the seventh floor of a building Mong Kok on May 17,
but police ruled out foul play.
Investigators said the victim was not a domestic helper.
Initial police investigation showed the
30-year-old woman was cleaning the window of a flat she shared with her
Pakistani partner when the incident happened, the Police Public
Relations Bureau told The SUN.
“At 10:27 pm on May 17, (police) found a
Filipino female lying unconscious on the podium of a residential
building on 179 Tung Choi St in Mong Kok,” the officer said.
Local media reports said the woman was found lying unconscious on the canopy on the second floor of the building.
The spokeswoman said firemen took the victim to Kwong Wah Hospital but the woman was certified dead on arrival.
The officer said the victim was not named in the report received by the PPRB from the Mong Kok Station.
But she said initial investigation showed the victim was cleaning the window of the flat when she lost her balance.
Police found no suspicious circumstances leading to the death, the officer said.
An officer at the Consulate's assistance
to nationals section said the woman’s Pakistani live-in partner had
already reported the death and sought assistance.
But the woman's identity could not be immediately ascertained.
The man was distraught and emotional as he accompanied paramedics to the hospital, local reports said.
Local daily, the South China Morning Post
cited records showing that at least 11 people had either died or
suffered injury from accidental falls since 2015 while cleaning windows
or doing renovation work on Hong Kong’s high-rise buildings.
At least four incidents involved domestic
helpers, the latest of which killed 35-year-old Rinalyn Dulluog who
fell from a Lohas Park high-rise on Aug 9.
Her death led to the Consulate, through Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre, to exclude window cleaning from tasks expected of Filipino overseas workers.
On Jan 13, the Hong Kong Labour
Department adopted the move by barring the cleaning of windows not
fitted with grilles, and by requiring that no part of the helper’s body
except the arms could extend beyond the window ledge.
