A toddler was in hospital in a critical condition today after plunging 45ft feet from a fourth floor flat.
The two-year-old boy fell from the window ledge of the property in Balnagask Circle in Aberdeen.
The infant was seriously injured after he tumbled to the ground and landed on the grass below at about 1:45pm on Monday.
Paramedics rushed to the scene and treated the young boy before he was taken to hospital.
The extent of his injuries are not yet known but he was described as being in a “critical but stable” condition after being airlifted to Glasgow.
Today neighbours told of their shock after running out to the back of the council-owned properties to find the child injured.
A 37-year-old woman, who was one of the first on the scene, said: “I heard the mother call for help. I went round the building and saw a little boy on the ground.
“He wasn’t well – he was lying on his side making a noise.
“He sounded like he was in pain.
“I was just really hoping that he was still alive.”
The woman, who did not want to be named, said she returned to the front of the building to show paramedics where they needed to go as soon as she found out the mother had called for an ambulance.
She added: “The mother looked distressed, I think she was crying.
“I went round to show the ambulance driver where to go.
“I was hoping he was still alive and I pray for him that he will be fine.”
Another local resident said she was out walking her dog when she heard a scream from the other side of the flats at about lunch time.
But she did not realise that someone had been injured at the time.
Debbie Souhli, 47, said she saw a young woman run from the front of the street to an area at the back.
Mrs Souhli said: “I didn’t even see her face. She ran and came through the grass area.
“I heard a little scream.”
Other neighbours told how police arrived on the street at about 2pm on Monday and were parked outside the building where the toddler fell from until yesterday morning.
Conservative councillor Alan Donnelly said the incident would need to be investigated to find out whether any safety improvements could be made.
He said: “My thoughts are naturally with his family and his friends.
Hopefully he will make a speedy recovery.
“Obviously he is in a bad way.
“We need to find out the circumstances behind it whether it was window security and if there any safety aspects to consider.
“But kids at that age can be boisterous, learning to walk and talk.
“A lot of windows now have safety locks and barriers on them but we don’t want to start putting on bars on the windows of council properties turning them into mini prisons.
“We really need to examine what went wrong.”
Police confirmed they were investigating the incident yesterday.
A police spokeswoman said: “Police Scotland was made aware of reports at around 1.40pm of a two-year-old boy who had fallen from a window at a property in the Balnagask area of Torry yesterday.
“The youngster was taken to Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH) for initial assessment but has since been transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow.
“Enquiries are ongoing.”
