Dongguan police say girl, 11, threw apple that injured baby

An 11-year-old girl has been blamed after a falling apple put a baby into a coma in Dongguan, Guangdong province.

Police said the girl was attempting to throw the apple to her pet dog, which was standing on the balcony of her family's 24-floor apartment, but she misjudged the distance.

An investigation showed the fruit flew out of the window and struck a 3-month-old baby girl, who was being taken for a walk around the residential community by her grandmother.

The older girl was home alone when the incident took place at about 4 pm on March 9, police said on Wednesday.

The baby was rushed to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed a serious skull fracture and brain damage. Her father, surnamed Yu, said on Wednesday that his daughter had been in coma in intensive care for 13 days.

"The medical costs have so far come to more than 150,000 yuan ($23,800), and doctors say the right side of my daughter's brain might have lost all function," he told local media. "Doctors say they do not know when my daughter might wake up."

Yu said he has yet to reach a compensation agreement with the family of the girl that threw the apple.