Gardaí are to prepare a file for the coroner's court following the death of a 22-month-old girl who fell from the top-storey window of a flat in Cork over the weekend.
Sumayi Saliba was fatally injured when she fell over 25 feet while playing in a bedroom of the flat where she lived with her parents, Shawkat Ali and Romana Tarbin, at Hardwicke Street in Cork city.
Yesterday, Sumayi's father spoke of how the accident happened at around 12.10pm on Sunday as he was preparing a meal for his wife and some friends who were visiting them.
"I was cooking and my baby was playing - I thought she had gone hiding because she was always hiding but then I heard a noise," Mr Ali told The Irish Times.
A passing taxi driver had seen the baby fall and was shouting to raise the alarm when Mr Ali arrived at the door of his house and saw his child on the pavement.
"When I came out my baby was lying on the pavement, she was absolutely still and cold. I breathed into her mouth and she gave one shake but then no more and was still again, " he said.
"There was a private car and I opened the door and I asked the man to take me to the nearest hospital so he drove us to the Mercy University Hospital. I didn't even have time to tell my wife."
Doctors at the Mercy University Hospital tried to resuscitate the toddler but she had suffered serious head injuries and died at around 12.40am yesterday.
Mr Ali, who is originally from Bangladesh, has been living in Cork for the past five years. His wife and baby daughter joined him in Cork 10 months ago in their rented flat.
The flat has a number of windows opening on to the narrow street with the lower half of the windows opening upwards on a hinge so that when open, there's a gap right next to the window ledge.
Mr Ali revealed it was the second tragedy to befall the family and follows the death of the couple's first child just two days after being born in January 2003.
His wife, Romana Tarbin, is expecting their third child and had been admitted to hospital on Saturday after collapsing.
"I am very concerned about my wife - she collapsed while we were in the supermarket on Saturday and had to be brought to the Cork University Maternity Hospital but was later discharged . . . She is very upset about what happened but she is my concern now - my baby daughter is already gone and now it's my wife that I'm thinking about," he said yesterday.
A friend, Ershad Ullah, said that there are approximately 450 Bangladeshis living in Cork and they are rallying around to support Mr Ali and his wife in their time of grief.
"People from the Bangladeshi community are being supportive," said Mr Ullah.
Supt Martin Shanahan of Mayfield Garda station confirmed gardaí would be preparing a file for the coroner's court on the death of the little girl.
"This was a most unfortunate tragic accident - our sympathies are with the child's parents as it really is a terrible tragedy for them to try and come to terms with," said Supt Shanahan.
