Indonesian maid falls to her death

Indonesian maid falls to her death

SINGAPORE (DPA): A young Indonesian maid who arrived in the city-state one month ago fell 11 stories to her death while trying to bring into an apartment a pole for drying laundry, it was reported on Monday.

Winarti, 23, was staying with her agent when she fell from the kitchen window. Hers was the 15th falling death of a foreign maid since 1998. Each of the maids was performing housework at the time of their death.

The police found the bamboo pole with clothing on it beside the body. Winarti landed on her back and head and was pronounced dead at the scene, The Straits Times said.

In an effort to curb the spate of accidents involving foreign maids, the Ministry of Manpower wrote to all employers in December, telling them to keep safety in mind when asking maids to do hazardous household chores, particularly cleaning windows in high-rise blocks.

In a separate incident, a Singapore youth also died on Saturday after falling five stories from a condominium.