A 5-year-old girl is gravely injured by a drone during a school photo shoot

During a school photo shoot, a 5-year-old girl was gravely injured by a drone that fell out of the sky. The drone accident happened in China, showing how important it is to stay away from people when flying a drone or at least use a prop cage.

Fortunately, the majority of accidents involving drones that we report on only involve damage to drones and sometimes harm to property. Rarely do we report on incidents involving physical injury.

Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan in China. In this case, a five-year-old child was hit and severely injured. The photos were shared on Twitter. Viewers should use caution.

5-year-old girl injured by a drone

The drone incident happened a few days ago in Chongqing’s Yubei district (population of about 31 million), in the country’s southwest. A five-year-old child was injured during what seemed to be a planned photo shoot while she was in kindergarten.

According to the Kanzhaji website, which quotes the Chongqing Network Radio and Television Station, the facility was set up to photograph the children on the day. Given drone technology’s widespread use in China, it’s not surprising that an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) was used for this.

How the drone accident happened is unknown. The unmanned aircraft fell out of the sky during flight and hit the young girl in the face while the rotors were still spinning.

Significant lacerations are left between the eyes, on the forehead, and under the left eye as a result of the hit. The child was very lucky since her eyes were spared major injury.

Kindergarten provides compensation for being injured by a drone

On television, the original City 700 broadcast ran for approximately 17 minutes. You could see the child’s mother expressing her anger and frustration at the Kindergarten employees.

A police officer and a mediator were also sent in to help de-escalate the situation. The drone pilot was a representative of the kindergarten, which sponsors the sporting event at this school.

According to reports, the kindergarten has kept a low profile on this issue. Finally, a 30,000 yuan (4350 euros) compensation payment is said to have been made in order to settle the case out of court. It is unclear if the parents took the payment or proceeded to appear in court.

The child’s lacerations were several inches long and needed suturing (a total of 21 stitches, reportedly).

This drone incident serves as a reminder to keep a safe distance when flying, especially from people. Propeller cages may have prevented some of the damage in this case.