Family's tragedy as boy, 5, dies in rotating restaurant

The family of a young boy killed at a popular rotating restaurant in Atlanta have released a picture of the 5-year-old.

Charlie Holt suffered a severe head injury on Friday when he got stuck between the moving table and the wall at the Sun Dial restaurant on the 72nd floor of the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel.

Charlie was visiting with his family from Charlotte, North Carolina, when they stopped to have lunch at the venue, which offers spectacular views from the top floor.

The Sun Dial spins slowly to offer 360-degree views of the city's skyline and surrounding countryside and it appears the youngster became lodged between a fixed wall and a table that was moving.

A family representative said: "The family asks for prayers and privacy right now to come to terms with this tragedy.

"No words can express their loss. If you have a loved one, please give them an extra hug today."

The family were the last customers in the restaurant when the boy wandered away from his parents to have a look at the views for himself, WSBTV reported.

The hotel's security staff and employees scrambled to pull the boy out after realising he was stuck in the narrow 12cm between the wall and table.

"His whole body was caught in between maybe 4 or 5 inches of space and his head took the brunt of the injury," police said. "It crushed his little small body."

"The amount of people who were helping was amazing," a spokesman for the hotel said. "They were moving furniture, they were pulling chairs; chairs that were bolted to the floor, they were pulling them up to try to get the child out."

They were eventually able to free him, but unfortunately it was too late.

Although the moving floor immediately stopped, Charlie suffered severe head trauma.

He was taken to Grady Hospital about 3.30pm, and was later pronounced dead.

''There was a tragic accident at the hotel involving a young boy,'' Westin Peachtree Plaza manager George Reed said.

"Words cannot express the depths of our sorrow. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."

The Sun Dial is now closed until further notice, and an investigation is being conducted by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

Charlie's death comes just a year after a kitchen employee at the same hotel died after getting accidentally locked in a freezer overnight.

Carolyn Robinson, 61, had worked at the Westin hotel for more than 35 years.

Less than a month after that, 10-year-old Stephen Akinlabi died at the hotel's pool after he fell in at a birthday party.