China toddler, 2, falls to death from 18th floor apartment in 12 min dad left him home alone to walk dog

A two-year-old toddler in Chongqing, China died after falling from the 18th floor window of an apartment.

He had reportedly been left alone at home for 12 minutes by his father, who was walking the family dog.

Alone at home

According to chinese media The Paper, the incident occurred on Sep. 13 at Chongqing's Ocean Park, where the family of three was staying over the weekend.

The toddler's mother, surnamed Liu, had left for a work event at a hotel, leaving her husband and child at home.

At about 3:26pm, the father, surnamed Cui, placed the boy on the living room sofa to watch cartoons on the television.

He then left the house to walk the dog.

When he returned 12 minutes later, he discovered that the child was missing from the apartment.

As he searched the unit, he heard a shout from outside the balcony that a child had fallen from the building.

He then saw his son lying on the ground below.

Child likely climbed out of window

Cui told the media that the balcony railing was over a metre high, Sina News reported.

He added that a screen had been installed over the balcony previously, but had been removed.

The window was also not closed at the time of the incident.

Surveillance cameras inside the unit were not plugged in at the time, making it difficult to reconstruct the incident.

According to forensics examiners, the boy is believed to have stepped on the edge of a bathtub on the balcony and climbed out of the window.

He was holding his blanket in one hand at the time.

During the fall, he also reportedly hit a tree branch, causing severe internal bleeding that led to his death.

There were no other external injuries.

"I am willing to take responsibility"

Cui was taken in by police for questioning, but released after it was found that no abuse had occurred.

In preparing for his son's wake, Cui said that while the incident was unintentional, he was willing to take full responsibility for it.

He also felt very guilty, he added, stating that he simply wanted to finish handling funeral arrangements before he comforts his wife.

However, according to The Paper, Liu accused her husband of not being adequately involved in their child's caregiving. The couple had reportedly argued about household chores and child-rearing responsibilities just days before.

Her biggest request was for her husband to admit to his mistakes, she told the media.