MILILANI MAUKA — A 15-year-old boy who had been playing near a construction area died yesterday after falling 90 to 100 feet off a ridge and into a dry riverbed. The death came just one day after neighbors complained about children playing along the ridge.

The boy, whose name was not released last night, was with four or five other boys, including his younger brother, said Honolulu Police Sgt. Paul Ledesma.

Fire rescue personnel were dispatched to the scene shortly before 2 p.m., and the boy was found in extremely critical condition, said Honolulu fire Capt. Kenison Tejada.

The teenager was pronounced dead at about 2:50 p.m., said Bryan Cheplic, a spokesman with the city's Emergency Services Department.

The ridge overlooks Wai-kakalaua Ditch adjacent to Launani Valley Park. Wika'o Street runs roughly parallel to the ditch.

Neighbors yesterday said the boys apparently got onto the ridge by walking behind a new, vacant house on Kelakela Street near Ho'olu Street.

"There should at least be a wall," said Lorna Okabe, who lives across the street with her three daughters, ages 14, 12 and 1. "I tell my girls not to play there. But I don't feel less safe because I'm always watching them."

Alan Suwa, who moved into the neighborhood in March, said not everyone is in favor of installing fences.

"Some people don't like to block their view," said Suwa, who has a 13-year-old son. "If they're going to go back there and play, they're going to find a way to do it anyway."

Wednesday night, a female resident told the members of the Launani Valley Community Association — the master association of seven homeowner associations in the valley — that in the past two weeks she had seen anywhere from four to 10 children playing on the ridge, said Charlie Remington, the community association manager.

"The resident had warned those children to get out of there," Remington said. "It's a very steep slope. Some of it slopes gradually. But the majority is like a 45-degree angle. It's slippery in some areas and fairly hazardous. Someone at the top could be looking over and they could find themselves suddenly sliding at a 45-degree angle."

Melissa Graffigna, a member of the Mililani Mauka/Launani Valley Neighborhood Board, has walked the area around the riverbed in Launani Valley, just below the ridge the boys had been playing on yesterday.

"There are high points that they could slip and fall and hurt themselves," Graffigna said yesterday. "Why the heck would kids want to be up there?"

MaryAnne Selander, a member of the Mililani/Waipi'o/Melemanu Neighborhood Board, said she has complained to city and neighborhood board officials about lack of fencing and signs along the ridge for years and as recently as May.

"It's tragic. I'm devastated," Selander said. "I've been pretty vocal."

"My complaint is that they have houses where kids can oversee the valley, but they have no protections for them," Selander said. "The people who allow the development and the developers should place an incredible number of signs saying you shouldn't go down and climb down the area. There's no protection."

Castle & Cooke continues to build single-family and multi-family homes in the area surrounding the ridge and was notified of the boy's death by construction officials in the area, said company spokesman Carlton Ching.

Castle & Cooke officials last night were still gathering information to determine whether the boys had been in the firm's construction area, Ching said.

"We have heard it's through one of our construction sites, but we're not sure," Ching said. "We don't have enough facts."

Ching said Castle & Cooke wants to help authorities and the family.

"Any accident concerns us," Ching said. "We want to make sure that the family is OK. We're very saddened to hear such a young life was lost. For his parents and his family, we really feel sorry for them."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com and Robert Shikina at rshikina@honoluluadvertiser.com.