Girl, 8, dies after 9-story fall from apartment

WEST PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- An 8-year-old girl was looking out the window of her 9th floor apartment when she fell out of the open window to the ground below.

Police say it was a tragic accident.

The child plunged nine stories from the window of an apartment building on Locust Street in University City Wednesday morning.

The screams of an 11-year-old are what alerted a father this morning that her 8-year-old sister had fallen from the window.

Police say the father lived in an apartment of the Fairfax Apartment Building in with his two daughters. He slept in the living room, they in the bedroom.

Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker says, "We believe the kids woke up before the father. We believe the 8-year-old was looking out the window, looking at something and just tragically falls from the window."

Investigators were surveying the scene on the 4200 block of Locust Street this morning. Police say the 11-year-old sister had been in the room, but it's unclear if she actually saw what happened.

Her father went running to the alley upon hearing her cries for help.

When police arrived on the scene, the father was holding his daughter in his arms.

Walker tells us, "The father runs down the stairs, picks the child up, and brings the child out. Obviously, awaits police, and we arrived and tried our best to get her to the hospital, but the injuries were just devastating."

She was unresponsive, and quickly rushed to CHOP where she was pronounced dead around 8:30.

The Penn Alexander School is across the street. The siblings don't attend that school, but the home and school association is already talking about reaching out to the family.

Neighbor Melissa Barrett says, "I'm on the HAS and we were going to consult with the school to so something appropriate for the family and make a gesture. But you know, it could have been anybody's kid."

Police say this was a typical window with screens and locks. They believe the screen was down when the father went to bed. So they're not sure if the little girl lifted it up to look at something out the window before she fell.

The Special Victims Unit is investigating.