Poplar: Witnesses speak of horror as toddler left fighting for life following 70ft tower block fall

Fall: the boy is believed to have dropped onto an awning outside an estate agent before bouncing or rolling into the road below
John Dunne

A toddler is fighting for life after plunging about 70ft from a tower block window on to a busy main road.

The little boy, aged about three, lay almost motionless as passers-by blocked the A13 East India Dock Road through Poplar to traffic while emergency services raced to the scene shortly before 7pm last night.

A 100ft stretch of the four-lane road outside All Saints DLR station was closed while police, paramedics and an air ambulance tended the child before transferring him to hospital.

The Met said today: “The injured child, a boy, has been transferred to a specialist hospital. His condition at this time is believed to be critical but stable.”

Witnesses described distressing scenes as a woman, thought to be the child’s mother, ran barefoot into the street in tears, gesturing up toward an eighth-floor window.

The child is thought to have landed on the awning above an estate agent at the foot of the modern 14-storey block, before bouncing or rolling out onto the dual carriageway.

Shopkeeper Ali Ahmed said: “The toddler was lying on the ground in the road. There were people desperately trying to help. It was strange. There was no blood at all but he was not moving.”

Another witness added: “The mother was at the scene. She was in a terrible way. She was waiting for the ambulance, it was terrible to see. She was shouting ‘please help’. Residents were trying to save the boy.”

An investigation is under way into how the toddler fell.

Building residents told of concerns about the windows, saying there is a safety mechanism but they can still be opened wide on a certain setting.

Ranjit Naik, 43, a father of two young children, said: “I lock my windows because they are big and can open wide. If a toddler got up on a sofa or other furniture next to the window they could easily climb up and fall out. I was worried about it.”

A security guard at the building today said: “They are a very nice people and we are all very upset.”

Anyone who witnessed the incident or have footage are asked to contact the Met, quoting reference CAD 6419/27 July. There have been no arrests.

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