Maid fell 30 storeys while cleaning window: Coroner Published on Jan 18, 2013 12:43 PM

An Indonesian domestic worker fell 30 storeys to her death while cleaning the master bedroom window in Telok Blangah Heights, a coroner's court heard on Friday. Ms Eci Eriyani, 23, had been working for the employer for six months when she fell on March 29 last year.

At an inquiry into her death, the court heard that the maid was alone with her employer's mother-in-law, Madam Chiow Gek Inn, at the time. About half an hour after they had lunch, Madam Chiow, 79, was in the living room when she heard Ms Eriyani shout "Grandma''.

She went round looking for the maid and found a pail of water in the master bedroom. The window and grilles were open. She heard a loud thud and suspected something was amiss. She went to the void deck and found Ms Eriyani lying on the grass patch and called the police.

Ms Eriyani was pronounced dead at 1.15pm. State Coroner Imran Abdul Hamid said in his findings that the facts showed that the deceased was cleaning the windows of her employer's unit on the 30th floor when she accidentally fell out of the bedroom window and to the ground.

Since the middle of last year, employers have to follow stricter guidelines when their maids clean the exterior of windows at their homes.

When this chore has to be done, the employer or an adult representative will have to be around to supervise it. Window grilles must be installed, and locked during the cleaning.