3 toddlers drown, 2 narrowly escape death after falling from balcony in tragic China incidents

This is why you should never leave your kids alone, even for a second.

In two separate incidents last week in China, three young children lost their lives and two almost died in tragedies that could have been prevented, if only they'd been under the watchful eye of a parent.

On September 15, a father in Guangdong who was rushing off to work left his two children - a girl and a boy, at home, after fetching them home from kindergarten.

He locked the front door behind him as he left, but the girl reportedly brought a stool to the balcony and climbed up for a look outside. Unfortunately, she slipped and fell three floors to the ground below.

Barely two minutes later, her younger brother followed suit.

In video footage captured of the incident, a young woman walking below the apartment block gets a rude shock when the girl lands right in front of her. As she calls for help, passers-by notice her brother also at the balcony.

They shouted at the boy to get away from the balcony but to no avail. Despite their best efforts, onlookers failed to catch the boy as he fell.

Miraculously however, the boy is reportedly out of danger after being sent to hospital, while the girl is still fighting for her life after suffering extensive head injuries.

In an even more hair-raising incident, also in Guangdong province, three young playmates drowned within 20 seconds of each other after falling into a pond while playing.

A CCTV video captures the harrowing moment when a three-year-old boy and two girls aged four and three, fall into the water in quick succession.

In the footage captured on Sept 13, the first child is seen toppling into the pond. The second toddler lowers himself feet first into the water but loses his grip and falls in. Seeing his two playmates disappear under the water, the third child jumps right in.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cMoX7FgifI[/embed]

By the time the children were discovered missing, it was too late. Their bodies were found half an hour later. According to reports, the children were related - the two girls were sisters, while the boy was their cousin. Police are currently investigating the incident.

Here's an important lesson for us all. Just as your belongings should never be left unattended, greater care should be taken to ensure that children are never left unsupervised.

candicec@sph.com.sg