3-year-old boy falls to death after parents leave home to visit shrine

TOKYO — A 3-year-old boy fell to his death from an apartment in Tokyo early Thursday after his parents left him at home while visiting a shrine for the New Year, police said.

The boy, believed to have fallen from a balcony of his ninth-floor home in Shinjuku Ward, was pronounced dead at a hospital. There was an emergency call for an ambulance around 1:25 a.m.

According to the police, the boy's parents said they went to the shrine as they believed their son was asleep. Police say the boy was alone at home at the time of the accident.

© KYODO