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SINGAPORE: Police are investigating after a two-year-old girl was struck in the head by a falling metal U-shaped bar at her neighbourhood playground.
The child’s mother, Reena Ng, told The Straits Times that she had taken her three children – aged two, four and six – to the playground between Block 172D and Block 173A in Sengkang East Drive at 10am on Christmas Eve.
Her youngest child had been beside her at around 11am, as the family prepared to head home, when they heard “a loud clang”, said the 32-year-old clubhouse manager.
“The next moment she was crying and bleeding from her head,” said Ng. She rang her husband and he called for an ambulance.
The blow from the 10cm-long bar left the girl with a 1cm by 1.2cm head wound that had to be sealed with tissue adhesive.
Though her daughter is feeling well and returned to school on Dec 27, Ng said: “I’m still reeling from it.
“I’m definitely scared but won’t stop taking the kids to playgrounds because of it, just maybe not that one.”
The family were the only ones at the playground at the time, so she has no idea what happened, added Ng.
Police said they were alerted at 11.15am to the incident on Dec 24.
In reply to queries from ST, a spokesman for Sengkang Town Council said there were no contractors engaged by the town council working in the vicinity on the day of incident, dispelling suspicions of negligent maintenance works.
The town council is conducting its own investigation and “cooperating fully to share its findings” with the police.
The spokesman said: “We wish our affected resident a smooth recovery, and we also encourage any witnesses to come forward, as their assistance could be crucial in understanding what happened.” - The Straits Times/ANN
