A devastated Miriam George, mother of the dead child. Photo: Matthews Baloyi

Johannesburg –

The tiny pink dress hangs clean and ready on the washing line, but Olivia Said will never wear it again.

On Tuesday, two-year-old Olivia died when she fell from the third floor of a block of flats in the Joburg inner city and a man was injured when he also fell, apparently in a desperate attempt to catch her.

Olivia died on the Jeppe Street pavement, and the man hit a parked car. He survived and was taken to hospital.

On Tuesday afternoon, Olivia’s shattered parents were trying to understand what had happened.

Olivia and her mother, Miriam George, had arrived from their home in Malawi late on Monday night for a brief visit to Joburg, and were staying in the flat on the corner of Von Brandis and Jeppe streets.

The child’s father, Jesus Said, works in Joburg and lives elsewhere, but rushed to the flat when the police called him.

George had been out of the flat, washing clothes in the nearby washroom.

Olivia was in the flat with the man, a relative, who was apparently making tea on the wide window sill.

The window is about 90cm from the floor, so the family was trying to figure out how Olivia could have climbed up there herself. The relative was unable to talk to them after his fall.

For more details go to http://www.iol.co.za/