Nigerian diplomat mourns loss of son after fatal accident

The 10-month-old son of a Nigerian diplomat was buried yesterday after he died in a fall from the balcony of his family's apartment on Sunday.

Alfazazi Namairage, Nigeria's top trade representative to Taipei, was joined by friends, relatives and colleagues in mourning the death of his son, Harun Namairage, at the Grand Taipei Mosque yesterday afternoon.

"They reached the mosque around 1pm and he [Namairage] removed the baby himself from the vehicle," said Ishag Ma (馬孝棋), the imam of the mosque, who presided over the funeral for the baby.

The police returned the baby's body to the Namairage family yesterday after closing their investigation into his death, saying the case was "an accident."

The boy fell from the balcony of Namairage's fifth-floor residence in Tienmu on Sunday afternoon, police said, as he crawled along the balcony after waking up from a nap.

"The death certificate says that the baby fell from certain height and lost his life," Ma said.

The infant will be buried in the Islamic cemetery in Liuchangli (六張犁).

"Namairage himself has been a faithful Muslim. He came to the mosque every evening after work and he will not go home until he finishes the prayers," Ma said.