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 Man on phone to wife falls to death

A 29-year-old Indian IT analyst today died after allegedly falling from the balcony of the third floor of an apartment in Sydney, police said.

According to local police, the victim, identified as Pankaj Saw, was talking on the phone, to his wife in India, when he fell from the balcony in Macquarie Park at about 1 AM, local time, today.

His manager, Karen Waller was quoted saying that Saw had only recently returned from India after getting married.

Pankaj Saw, a 29-year-old IT analyst, was on the phone to his wife in India on Thursday morning when he fell from his third-floor balcony and died.
 
A man who died after falling from the third-floor balcony of an apartment in Sydney’s north-west may have leaned on a wooden railing which collapsed, police say.

Pankaj Saw, 29, an IT analyst, was talking to his wife in India on the phone when he plunged about 10 metres to the ground at the block of apartments in Macquarie Park about 1am on Thursday.

A NSW Police spokesman said detectives believed the Indian national’s death was a result of "misadventure", and initial investigations suggested there may have been "some fault with the balcony".

Images of the white brick apartment block, located on the corner of Cottonwood Crescent and Waterloo Road, show a wooden railing missing from the top-floor balcony where Mr Saw fell.

He suffered critical head and internal injuries, and died at the scene.

A smashed cordless phone handset was found on the concrete below the balcony.

Mr Saw worked as a systems support analyst for an Indian-based IT firm, Tech Mahindra, which has offices in North Sydney and Chatswood, and carries out outsourcing work for Optus.

His manager, Karen Waller, said Mr Saw had only recently returned from India after marrying.

Photos posted on Facebook in January show Mr Saw and his wife celebrating their wedding, before honeymooning in Thailand.

Mr Saw is believed to have returned to Australia on his own, and was staying with friends before his wife was due to join him in Australia at a later date.

"On a personal level, it’s very painful," Ms Waller said.

"He had so much life and energy."

Mr Saw was living in the unit with two colleagues, she said.

"He is going to be badly missed," Ms Waller said.

"We just hope that something is done about what has happened here.

"You can tell that something obviously wasn’t quite right about this apartment."

She said Mr Saw’s wife had been told of her husband’s death.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner.