CHICAGO, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- A 13-month-old toddler has become the fourth Chicago-area child to be killed by a falling television set since October, police said.
Shaun Brown of Chicago was fatally crushed when a 100-pound flat-screen TV fell on top of him, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.
The television had been placed on a narrow wooden stand meant to hold a fish tank.
Televisions that tip over account for nearly half the furniture accidents that send children to emergency rooms, the head of a child safety organization said.
Dr. Gary Smith, president of the Child Injury Prevention Alliance, told the Tribune there has been a 40 percent increase in tip-over injuries nationally from 1990 to 2007.
Smith said he thinks more children are being injured by televisions because people tend to put flat-screen TVs in places that are easier for children to reach.
His group advocates using tip-over straps and mounting brackets for all televisions and heavy, unstable furniture.
