[Scarlett.]

A six-year-old boy was thrown five floors from the 10th floor of the Tate Modern art gallery in central London, police said.

He landed on a fifth floor roof and was taken to hospital by air ambulance after he fell at about 14:45 BST on Sunday.

The boy's condition is described as critical.

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, the Met Police said.

They said the six-year-old was thrown from a viewing platform.

"We treated a person at the scene and took them to hospital as a priority," a London Ambulance Service (LAS) spokesman said.

A police spokesman said there was "nothing to suggest [the suspect] is known to the victim".

The teenager had remained on the platform after the boy fell, police said.

Visitors were initially locked inside the gallery at Bankside on the South Bank.

'Where's my son?'

Admin worker Nancy Barnfield, 47, of Rochdale, was at the 10th floor viewing gallery with a friend and their children when her friend heard a "loud bang".

Ms Barnfield said she turned around and saw a woman screaming: "Where's my son, where's my son?"

Members of the public quickly gathered around a man who was nearby, she said.

Ms Barnfield said: "We did not notice the mum before, we noticed her after because she was hysterical by then."

She said the person who was restrained by members of the public before the police arrived "just stood there and was quite calm".

Olga Malchevska, who was also on the 10th floor, said she heard a scream and then headed to the exit with her child.

"Some people started panicking. We got to the packed lift. People there were saying that one boy threw another one from the balcony. We were all shocked."

Stuart Haggas said he saw emergency crews moving along the roof between the gallery's Turbine Hall and its recent extension.

"They were carrying a stretcher with someone on it, plus a second stretcher was waiting by the door," he said.

BBC correspondent Jonny Dymond, who was also there, said visitors were "funnelled towards the main Turbine Hall and the exits were all closed".

"There were quite a lot of families with children, and security guards told us we couldn't leave," he said.

"There were at least two fire engines, 10 police cars and an incident control unit. Parts of the exterior of the building were taped off."

The Tate Modern opened in the disused power station on the River Thames in 2000.

It was the UK's most popular tourist attraction in 2018 with 5.9 million visitors, according to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.

BBC News

What the ****

[arista]

shocking

[Ammi]

...completely horrendous...the little guy’s condition is critical, I can’t imagine what the family is going through right now...

[DouglasS]

That’s made me feel ill. Evil.

[LaLaLand]

Unbelievable. Jesus Christ!

[arista]

[bitontheslide]

Every day I lose more faith in humanity

[Marsh.]

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

[Rob!]

Jesus Christ. I’ve been there recently and that drop is huge, in fact I’m amazed he’s even still alive.
What kind of evil person does that to a small child...?

[Alf]

I think something similar happened fairly recently in America, I think at a shopping mall.

[Twosugars]

On the news a woman who was there said the guy acted weird and followed her and her children for a while before it happened

[Ant.]

Sickening. I hope the boy recovers fast and well, 5 floors is very high, it's a miracle he's alive <3

[Mystic Mock]

Tbh I'm amazed that the child is still alive.

Hopefully the child pulls through and that the teenager actually gets punished.

[AnnieK]

Absolutely horrific, I hope the child recovers. His family must be besides themselves.

The person who threw him over sounds either very mentally ill or plain evil as he stood by calmly afterwards.

Scary world

[arista]

Originally Posted by Mystic Mock

Tbh I'm amazed that the child is still alive.

Hopefully the child pulls through and that the teenager actually gets punished.

He landed on the Side building
not the pavement.

[Ammi]

...I’ve just read that he’s still critical but stable...

[Cherie]

poor little chap, hope he pulls through

[Vicky.]

****ing hell..hope he recovers, but you would think that height would have killed him instantly really

[Kizzy]

Poor kid what a totally bizarre situation.

[Kazanne]

Its sad the depth some humans can sink to . Bless this little man ,I hope he recovers and without permanent damage .

[Cherie]

He is no longer critical

[Kizzy]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ind...556.html%3famp

[Ammi]

The teen suspect arrested after a six-year-old boy was thrown from the Tate Modern 10th floor blamed social services for his alleged actions, a witness has claimed...


https://uk.news.yahoo.com/teenager-a...101025939.html

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Ammi

The teen suspect arrested after a six-year-old boy was thrown from the Tate Modern 10th floor blamed social services for his alleged actions, a witness has claimed...


https://uk.news.yahoo.com/teenager-a...101025939.html

The report that the boy was ripped from his mothers arms are false I would say?

[Tom4784]

A bizarre and unsettling attack. I'm glad the boy seems to be stable and I hope he doesn't have any permanent injuries as a result of this.

I assume there was no real motive for the attack if the attacker wasn't known to the victim or his mother and given how calm he was reported to be, I'd assume that this is a case of a psychopath of some sort lashing out. I'll be interested to know more and I hope that justice is swift.