LONDON—A 6-year-old boy who was thrown from a 10th-floor viewing gallery at London’s Tate Modern gallery is no longer in a life-threatening condition, police said on Monday, Aug 5.
A 17-year-old boy is being held on suspicion of attempted murder over the incident, which happened Sunday afternoon while the gallery was packed with visitors.
A teenager has been arrested after a child fell from a height at the Tate Modern gallery in central London, according to the Met Police.
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— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 4, 2019
The Metropolitan Police force said the younger boy is in a critical but stable condition in a London hospital. He fell from the open-air viewing platform to a fifth-floor roof.
“Officers continue to work hard to establish the circumstances of yesterday’s incident,” police said in a statement.
Nancy Barnfield was at the gallery with her family when she heard a “loud bang,” and then saw a woman screaming “where’s my son, where’s my son?”
She said a man on the platform was restrained by other visitors until police arrived. Barnfield said he “just stood there and was quite calm.”
Police say they don’t believe the suspect and victim knew each other.
The child was treated at the scene before being flown to hospital by London’s air ambulance.
#Tatemodern Security says the child was taken to the hospital by this helicopter-after falling down from height.I saw a woman running to the balcony on 10floor&crying around 2:45pm,then all visitors got locked in the building till around 4:08pm. Hope the child will get well! pic.twitter.com/WQlPQjCp67
— Olga Malchevska (@Yollika) August 4, 2019
The Tate Modern, situated in a former power station next to the River Thames, was the most popular attraction in Britain in 2018 with almost 6 million visitors, according to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.
The 10th-floor terrace is part of a pyramid-shaped extension that opened in 2016 and offers panoramic views over London.
The gallery reopened Monday, but the viewing platform remained closed.
“Tate is working closely with the police to help with their investigations,” a spokeswoman said. “All our thoughts are with the child and his family.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
