The child's death is "under active investigation". (Representative photo)
A 3-year-old boy on Saturday died after falling from the 29th-floor balcony of an apartment building in New York City.
According to New York Post, neighbours described hearing what sounded like a “boom” and a “thump” when the kid fell and landed on the fifth-floor scaffolding of the high-rise building. An eyewitness said that the child's mother, who was outside at the time, began to yell. “She was sitting on the ground in her socks. She was screaming, “My baby, my baby, he is up there,” said that eyewitness.
The boy's father, on the other hand, ran downstairs and tried to climb onto the scaffolding to get his son but couldn't. The 3-year-old was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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Speaking to the outlet, Tangerine Castro, who lives on the 23rd floor, said that after hearing a thunderous “boom”, she came out on her balcony. “Everybody that were upstairs that could see down, saw the little boy with the yellow shirt. He was flat in the scaffolding,” Ms Catro said.
Nidia Cordera, who lives on the 34th floor, said that her kids heard a “big fight” between adults coming from the 29th-story balcony and less than 10 minutes later, there was a “thump”. “When you look out the terrace you see the baby's body. He was in his diapers and T-shirt,” she added. Further, Ms Cordera also said that she helped the child's mother in the past, even buying him diapers and milk.
“He was a beautiful little boy,” she added.
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New York City laws require that the owners of buildings with three or more apartments have to install window guards if a child aged 10 or under lives there. It is not known where any window guards were installed in this particular apartment.
As per reports, a police spokesperson has stated that the child's death is "under active investigation” and that officers are speaking with two individuals who were inside the apartment when the boy fell.