Toddler's death at Jewel store ruled a tragic misadventure

The incident involving an 18-month-old girl who died after a free-standing mirror in a Jewel Changi Airport boutique fell on her last August has been ruled a tragic misadventure.

In findings uploaded online yesterday, State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam said the accident involving Chinese national Lai Jiaxin happened after two boys, including her brother, squeezed in behind a free-standing mirror that was about 2m tall and weighed nearly 170kg.

The state coroner said: "Suddenly, the mirror fell forward onto Jiaxin, crushing her. She was extricated from beneath the mirror and conveyed to Changi General Hospital in an unresponsive state."

She died of a head injury at 2.35pm on Aug 23.

In her findings, State Coroner Kamala said that Jiaxin's mother had earlier stated that she accepts that her daughter's death was the result of an accident and does not blame anyone for the tragedy.

The state coroner said the clothing store - Urban Revivo - has since implemented measures to improve safety.

Besides removing all free-standing mirrors from its premises, the store has also sanded down the edges of tables to reduce sharp corners and installed non-slip rubber strips at staircases to prevent falls.

State Coroner Kamala said that other mirrors in the store have been secured to the floor with screws and reinforced with glue to prevent them from falling over.

Clothes railings have also been re-arranged to lean against the walls to eliminate gaps and prevent children from playing around them.

The state coroner said: "Staff (are) to be alert and look out for children roaming freely in the stores, and to highlight to parents immediately if they see children behaving inappropriately (or) left unattended.

"Staff are educated on how to look out for 'risky behaviour' in guests, and how to engage parents to look after their kids."

Jiaxin had arrived in Singapore from China on Aug 19 last year with seven other people, including her 29-year-old mother, 50-year-old maternal grandmother and six-year-old brother.

The other four were her mother's friend and the woman's family, which comprised her mother and her two children - a one-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy.

After spending time in Singapore, all eight went to Changi Airport on Aug 23 to catch their 3pm flight home.

They went to Urban Revivo on the second storey of Jewel Changi Airport at around 12.30pm.

The two mothers later went to the fitting rooms, leaving the grandmothers to watch over the four children.

The accident happened when the two boys squeezed behind the mirror while Jiaxin was standing in front of it.