A four-year-old girl left alone at home fell four storeys from a Housing Board flat in Tampines last week and was seriously hurt.

The girl's mother, Ms Jenica Julien Santelices, told The Straits Times yesterday that her daughter, Sachi Hailey Unique Cruz, and the girl's maternal grandmother arrived in Singapore from the Philippines on April 1 for a vacation.

On Friday night, the grandmother left the child alone at home and went to the market to buy food.

"The gate was closed and also the window," Ms Santelices said.

The grandmother returned home after 20 minutes and saw police officers at the foot of the block.

"She went up to our flat and looked for Sachi but she was not in the apartment and the window was open," said Ms Santelices.

"My mother went downstairs nervously to check what was happening and saw Sachi on the ground, together with the police and lots of people."

Ms Santelices, 24, who has been working in a restaurant here as a customer service officer for nearly five months, said that "miraculously", her daughter did not hurt her head.

But she fractured her spine andshoulder, and suffered internal bleeding in her lungs and liver.

Ms Santelices, who made a plea for financial aid, said yesterday: "As of today, she's fine, the internal bleeding has stopped and we're just waiting for the MRI this Friday to know if she needs an operation.

"The only problem is we are in need of financial (help) to support her medical expenses," she said.

"It's an accident. No one wants this to happen," she added.

A fund-raising page has been set up on YouCaring.com to cover the girl's medical expenses. So far, more than $5,400 has been donated towards the $20,000 goal.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force told The Straits Times that it responded to an incident at Block 836 Tampines Street 82 at 9.15pm on Friday and took a four-year-old child to Changi General Hospital.

ST understands that she was later transferred to the KK Women's and Children's Hospital.