A 5-YEAR-OLD girl was rescued by firefighters Monday after getting stuck in security grating trying to look out a window in her home.
The girl, identified as Xiao Lan, woke up at 5 a.m. Monday and couldn’t find her parents in their home in the Huangge community. She then climbed up to the windowsill to look out. She slipped and fell into the grating around the window. She fell through the bars but her head became caught, a report in yesterday’s Southern Metropolis Daily said.
The Longgang fire brigade received a report about the incident at 5:40 a.m., and it arrived minutes later. Rescuers were stunned by what they saw: Xiao Lan was standing on the shoulders of a man on a ladder outside, her head caught in the grating.
“The girl was quite cool-headed, and she was just holding the grating awaiting rescue,” said Zheng Weizhong, a firefighter.
Zheng said Lan had actually saved herself by not shouting or crying. “It helped conserve her energy,” Zheng said. “If she had moved wildly and cried hard, she might have stopped breathing because of the pressure on her windpipe.”
Witnesses said Xiao Lan’s neighbors went out to check what had happened when they heard the girl shouting for help. A neighbor put a ladder up to the grating and climbed up to hold her feet before firefighters arrived.
Zheng said several incidents involving children being left alone at home had occurred during the summer holidays. He reminded parents to take good care of their children and never leave them home alone. He also suggested that residents report similar incidents as early as possible.(SD News)