Pa. girl’s fatal 8-story fall ruled an accident

    The death of a teenage girl who fell eight stories while trying to reach a makeshift rope hanging from her suburban Philadelphia apartment window has been ruled an accident.

    Authorities say the 14-year-old girl had been sent to her room by her foster parents when she decided to try to escape out the window at the Marquis Apartments in Upper Merion on Tuesday night.Police say she fashioned a rope of shoelaces and electrical cords and tied it to a heating unit.

    The Times Herald reports Upper Merion Police Chief Tom Nolan says investigators believe she fell as she climbed out the window and that she never got onto the makeshift rope. A coroner has ruled the death accidental.

    The girl’s name has not been released.

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