Child falls from Somerleyton Gardens flat window in Norwich

Police were called to the fall at 12.43pm on Monday in Somerleyton Gardens, near Jenny Lind Park on the edge of the city centre.

Emergency services including police, an air ambulance, an ambulance, a rapid response vehicle and an ambulance officer vehicle attended the scene where the child was promptly taken to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.

The incident happened at Somerleyton Gardens on Monday afternoon (Image: Newsquest)

According to police, the child, who is of junior school age, fell from the third floor and suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.

They remain in hospital after a fall from around 30ft.

Officers have since opened an investigation to try and establish how the child fell, with members of the community expressing their sadness at the news. 

A large amount of emergency services were sent to the scene of the fall (Image: Newsquest)

One Suffolk Square woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said yesterday: "I heard about it this morning, but I don't know much about how it happened. It's very sad."

Another said they heard the sirens and were concerned somebody had been badly hurt.

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A Norwich City Council spokesman said “We have been made aware of the incident by our police colleagues. We will continue to work with them, and other partner agencies, to fully understand the circumstances.”

The child was taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries (Image: Newsquest)

The fall comes just days after five-year-old Aalim Makail died in east London after falling from one of the upper floors of the 16-storey Jacobs House tower block. 

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He was pronounced dead at the scene and the Met Police have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the fall.

The child's age is not currently known (Image: Newsquest)

A 2017 study in the European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery found that falls from four-storey heights have around a 50pc mortality rate.

The same study said that falls from six stories are almost always lethal. These numbers may be different for children, however.

Much of the area surrounding Somerleyton Gardens is covered by concrete and paving, which can be more harmful to fall on than a softer surface like grass, but a recent analysis in the American Library of Medicine claims injuries received by falling on solid versus soft ground "did not differ significantly".