Toddler Falls to Death at Lakers Game: Are Stadiums Safe?

(Nov. 22) -- The death of a a toddler at the Staples Center on Sunday is raising questions about the safety of fans at stadiums and arenas.

Two-year-old Anthony Tang fell out of a luxury suite and plummeted more nearly 50 feet to the floor shortly after an NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, FanHouse reported.

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating how the boy fell from the Staples Center suite he was sharing with his parents and sister. According to witnesses, Tang was still moving when he was placed on a stretcher and taken to LA County-USC Medical Center, where he later died.

The details surrounding the boy's death are still hazy, and it is unknown whether problems with the stadium itself contributed to the fall. Similar incidents may provide clues, however. In the past year alone, in fact, a number of fans have been injured after stadium falls.

On Nov. 13, a 20-year-old man sustained serious head injuries after falling down some stairs during a Rutgers football game, the university's sports information director reported. Officials were unable to determine what caused the accident.

Just one month earlier on Oct. 5, a 34-year-old man attending an NFL game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars suffered serious injuries after falling two stories at the Jaguars' home field. Witnesses gave different accounts of the incident: Some said the man was attempting to high-five another fan before the fall, while others said he was running from a staircase to an elevator.

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A baseball fan survived a 30-foot fall from the stands at a Major League Baseball game between the Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Indians on July 7. The man reportedly lost his balance when he was reaching for a foul ball, causing him to flip over the railing and fall onto lower-level seats.

According to a report published in the Forth Worth Star-Telegram, some of the stadium's guard railings were raised in 1994 after a woman fell more than 35 feet from the upper deck while she was posing for a picture, CNN reported. The railings the man flipped over measured more than 30 inches high, well above the required minimum height of 26 height.

A video of the incident showed stadium personnel responding quickly to the man.