JEDDAH: The owners of a mall here have been found guilty of negligence after a six-year-old girl injured herself severely in a fall from the second floor of the building last week.

The Civil Defense in Jeddah found that the owners had failed to abide by health and safety regulations, and has referred the matter to the police, a local publication reported.

Lt. Col. Saeed bin Sarhan, spokesman of the Civil Defense in Makkah, was quoted as saying that the father of the girl filed a complaint a day after the incident, which had prompted an investigation.

Bader Al-Ghanmi, the father of the girl, Luma, said she fell from a space next to an escalator on the second floor of the mall. “She fell on her head and is suffering from bleeding on her brain, two fractured ribs and another severe injury to her body. She has been in a coma for over a week,” he said.

He said the Civil Defense had inspected the scene and ordered the mall’s owners to cover the opening. Those responsible for the poor safety should be held accountable, he said.

He said the incident happened while he had gone to the mall for some shopping with his wife, Luma and three-year-old son, Fares. “When Luma moved to use the escalator, she fell through the opening, shocking everyone. Her mother started to scream and I could not contain myself.

She was immediately taken to King Abdulaziz University Hospital with blood covering her whole body,” he said.