CITIZENS and professionals are urging the city to make a law that would dole out strict punishments to people who drop objects from high buildings, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.

    These types of incidents, some leading to injuries and even deaths, have been on the rise recently.

    In July alone, three people were severely injured from falling objects. One man died after being hit on the head by a 10-kg chopping board that fell from an apartment in Minzhi Subdistrict, Longhua New Area.

    Lawmaker Yang Qin said that three major factors account for the frequent occurrences of people throwing things from high buildings: lack of laws, insufficient management and low education levels of people.

    In addition, some citizens lack awareness of laws and don’t know how to behave properly around other people in an urban environment. The latter is also described by some as selfishness and a lack of awareness of others. Lastly, Yang said urban real estate management is lagging behind development.

    Lawyer Li Jun said people who throw objects from high buildings should be held criminally liable for causing injuries or deaths. Li thinks that all residents of a building should be held responsible for the loss from such incidents if the culprit cannot be found, unless they can prove their innocence.

    In Hong Kong, the penalty for dropping objects out of buildings is HK$10,000 (US$1,287) plus a six-month detention, or life in prison if death occurs as a result. In Japan, the owner of a building is also held liable to compensate for losses resulting from falling attachments to buildings.(Anna Zhao)