A 10-year-old girl died yesterday morning after apparently falling from the exterior staircase of a Makiki apartment building.

Bryan Cheplic of the city Emergency Services Department said paramedics responded to a call at the Crown Thurston apartment building at 1574 Thurston Ave. shortly after 7:30 a.m.

Cheplic said the girl was taken to a hospital in critical condition. She was pronounced dead at 8:11 a.m.

Police said the girl was found on a grassy area on the building's ground floor. Police did not immediately determine how far the girl fell or what caused her to fall.

The exterior staircase of the Crown Thurston is open and has a 4-foot-high railing.

Residents of the building, where many families live, expressed shock after the incident.

Terence Takahashi, who has lived in the building for 20 years, said he heard sirens and went out to see what had happened. He saw the girl lying on the ground, and paramedics attempting to revive her.

"I don't know how she fell," said Takahashi, adding that the open-air exterior stairwell is rarely used.

Takahashi said he knew the 10-year-old, and he described her as "outgoing."

"She was always happy. I've never seen her sad," he said.