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UAE: Hundreds attend memorial mass of teen who fell from Abu Dhabi apartment
The youngest of three children, Alex was awaiting the results of his Grade 12 CBSE board exam
- PUBLISHED: Fri 25 Apr 2025, 9:50 PM
A 17-year-old student died after falling from the building he lived in on Thursday afternoon.
Alex Binoy, a student at Abu Dhabi Indian School, fell from his third-floor apartment, confirmed an Abu Dhabi-based Indian social worker who helped the family.
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However, he added that the boy’s parents did not realise that their son had fallen until they were alerted by the watchman of the building.
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The youngest of three children, Alex was awaiting the results of his Grade 12 CBSE board exam. His parents, Binoy Thomas and Elsy Binoy, have been long-term residents of the UAE. Elsy works as a nurse in an Abu Dhabi-based hospital.
“It is not clear how the child fell from his building, but he was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries,” he said. “I was alerted about the incident by around 7pm, and I helped the family with the paperwork.”
He added that the child’s body will be flown to his hometown of Kerala on Saturday evening, where he will be buried. The boy has two elder brothers, Dr Rahul Binoy, who lives in India, and Rohit Binoy, who works in Poland.
Requiem mass
More than 300 people, family and friends of Alex, attended a memorial mass in his honour on Friday at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi.
Alex fell from his bedroom window (not balcony as reported by other media), a family member told Khaleej Times. “He wanted to become a film director and was fond of taking reels.”
Beautiful person
"Alex had a joyful spirit — he would greet you with a hug, no matter if you were 70 or 13," said Roy K. Thomas, a senior member of Alex’s extended family.
“Today we had a special mass for him at St Joseph’s Cathedral and it was full; about 300 or 400 people, all of his classmates, schoolmates and friends were there.”
“We have a regular family gathering and I’m the leader of the family,” said the 70-year-old, longtime Abu Dhabi resident, who has known Alex since he was an infant.
His body will be flown to India on Saturday, April 26, at 10.40pm.
While the reason behind Alex’s fall from his bedroom window is unknown, the family speculates that he was capturing a reel at the edge of the window and fallen. “It is a big window with a sliding door,” Thomas explained.
He said Alex was fond of taking short films and reels because he aspired to become a director; he was already accepted at a university in Bangalore to study mass communication.
