Falling store display kills 2-year-old girl at Illinois mall
An Illinois toddler was killed after a store display structure fell on top of her during a trip to the mall with her family, local media reports.
The victim, identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office as 2-year-old Alexandra Martinez, died after two temporary steel walls fell on her inside the Akira store, a Chicago-based retailer which sells women's clothing, at the Orland Square Mall in Orland Park.
The toddler was at the mall with her grandmother, aunt and four other children when the tragedy took place.
Witnesses told police they saw Alexandra climbing on the walls in the store's shoe department when they fell on top of her, CNN reports.
Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy said the fixtures were approximately 8 feet tall, 3 feet wide and weighed between 75-100 pounds each, according to WLS-TV.
A nurse and a doctor who were near the shop attempted to save the child by administering CPR before first responders arrived. Alexandra was then rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill., where she died of her injuries.
"People pulled the partitions off of the child and a doctor and nurse came over right after," McCarthy said during a press conference. "Everything that could have been done was done under the circumstances."
In a statement, Eric Hsueh, a co-owner of Akira told WLS-TV, "We are devastated by this tragic event. We are working to collect all the details."
An Orland Square Mall spokesperson also expressed sadness following the girl's death, writing, "Our deepest sympathies go out to the family of the child."
The investigation into the toddler's death remains ongoing.
