FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM A woman talked to police investigators yesterday where a girl, 2, fell from a fourth-floor balcony in Nuuanu.

---

Defective bar
leads to toddler’s
4-story fall

A 2-year-old girl didn't want to go back inside and defiantly said, "No, auntie," just before losing her balance, slipping through the railing and falling four floors at a Nuuanu apartment building Sunday night.

The toddler was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition after landing on the ground floor, police said.

This is the third toddler to fall off a high-rise building in Honolulu in the past six months. A 3-year-old boy died after falling eight floors at a Moiliili apartment in November. And a 2-year-old boy died after falling from the 14th floor of a University Avenue apartment in August.

Eric Tash, manager of the state Department of Health's Injury Prevention and Control Program, said the girl's fall is different from the previous incidents because it happened in a common area. Incidents involving the two boys occurred at private apartment lanais.

"It's tragic. My heart goes out to the parents. It's terrible," Tash said. Common areas need to be checked to ensure they are childproof, he said.

"We really just need to make sure that children in areas where they have access to are safe, especially areas that are high up," Tash said.

Police said an aunt was baby-sitting the girl at a four-story apartment at 66 Kauila St. Both were on the open-air corridor on the top floor, with the girl running up and down.

But when the aunt attempted to bring her back to their unit at about 8:30 p.m., she told police the girl became defiant and was saying, "No, auntie."

According to the aunt, the toddler started kicking the railing located near the stairway on the mountain side of the building.

The aunt told police that one of the railing bars that had been broken for months popped out. She told police that the toddler then turned sideways with her right arm facing the railway when the bar struck her on the arm after she had kicked it.

The toddler lost her balance, slipped through the railing and fell.

The aunt was crying and is very upset, police said, adding that there were no signs of foul play.

The resident manager posted yellow tape on a portion of the railing where the girl fell through. Thin wiring was also wound around the defective bar to neighboring bars.

A notice dated Jan. 28 was posted at the entry of the stairway notifying tenants that starting Feb. 2, all of the walkways and stairways would be sealed off for maintenance. Property manager Harris Zane could not be reached for comment.

But resident manager Ed Geraldo said the building's concrete walkways and stairwells were resealed and painted earlier this month. And if the workers "would have noticed it (the broken bar), they would have said something."

Geraldo said he inspected all the aluminum railings yesterday morning after he learned about the accident.

"So far, every bit of the railings is solid except for that one place," he said. His boss will meet with him today to see what can be done.

Geraldo said aluminum railings do not rust like wrought iron. "They flex but they strong," he said.

"We keep up with our maintenance," he said, adding that the building's property management company spares no expense.

"I feel that should have been taken care of a long time ago," resident Stacey Moore said. "They should have found it when they were painting."