Indonesian maid survives nine-story fall in Singapore

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 01/17/2011

An Indonesian maid working in Singapore has survived after falling from her employer’s residence on the ninth floor of an apartment building, a local report said Sunday.

The maid, 23, was found on Friday afternoon at the foot of the building with bamboo poles and a pile of clothes beside her, indicating that she probably fell while trying to collect laundry, the Sunday Times said.

She was taken to a public hospital to treat fractures in her legs and pelvic bone, the report quoted a police spokesman as saying. Police were unavailable for comment when contacted by AFP.

The Singapore government has stepped up measures to protect the safety of foreign domestic helpers after similar incidents in recent years, which were fatal in some cases.

Employers found negligent can be fined up to S$5,000 ($3,882), jailed up to six months and banned from hiring a maid. Nearly 200,000 foreign maids, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, work in the affluent city-state, which has a population of slightly more than 5 million.