The boy remains in a critical condition after being thrown from Tate Modern London Viewing Platform (pictured). Photo / Alamy
The boy remains in a critical condition after being thrown from Tate Modern London Viewing Platform (pictured). Photo / Alamy
A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder Sunday after a 6-year-old child was thrown from the 10th floor viewing platform at London's Tate Modern art gallery, police said.
An eyewitness told the Daily Mirror: "I heard the impact and then screaming from above as a woman screamed 'He's my son! He's my son!'.
"I went inside because the screaming was horrific, the boy didn't make any noise but the people from the viewing platform were screaming."
The popular gallery was then placed into lockdown, with visitors not allowed in or out.
The Metropolitan Police said officers and paramedics found the injured child on a fifth-floor roof of the Tate. He was taken by air ambulance to a local hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, police reported in a statement.
"A 17-year-old male had remained with members of the public on the 10th floor viewing platform," the statement said. "There is nothing to suggest that he is known to the victim."
Nancy Barnfield, 47, had taken a trip to visit the art gallery from Rochdale with her two young sons.
The admin worker said: "The mother just screamed 'my son, my son' - she sounded terrified.
"She appeared about 35-years-old and spoke in an Italian accent, I think she must have been a tourist.
"We were close to the viewing gallery on the tenth floor, that's where he was pushed. Then there was a loud bang and people rushed in to restrain him, it was mostly men.
"They held him for ten minutes before police arrived. His face showed no emotion, he was completely silent."
At the scene, ambulances and rapid response cars were parked, joined by police officers and a fire engine.
Rafaella Montuori, 20, a designer from Brazil, said that she saw a stretcher carrying a small person.
Police at the scene of the fall at London's Tate Modern. Photo / AP
She said: "We were in the elevator and we saw security, then everybody came rushing from the tenth floor.
"Everyone was screaming, somebody said there was a child who fell.
"We went into the restaurant and we could hear helicopters above, people were crying.
"There was a stretcher and I could see fireman taking a small [person], a boy or a young woman."
Corinne Brookes, 25, was at the Tate Modern and told The Telegraph she arrived on the 10th floor viewing gallery seconds after the incident.
She said: "I was going up to the 10th floor to the viewing platform and I saw a lot of commotion on the balcony. People were screaming and shouting and these two guys looked like they were fighting, they were grabbing each other. The two guys were holding another guy, kind of like they were fighting.
"I went in and said to the security lady 'something's going on out there'. Then I saw a woman climbing, [with her] leg and arm over the railing on the balcony.
"At that point people were grabbing their children and screaming and crying so I just thought something terrible had happened so I started running down the stairs and other people were running. People might have thought it was a knife attack or something else.
"As I was going downstairs a woman was crying her eyes out and I said 'are you ok? What exactly happened?' She said 'they've thrown him off, someone's thrown a kid off.'"
Police officers attended the scene along with the London Ambulance Service and London's Air Ambulance.
A Metropolitan Police statement said: "Police were called at around 14:40hrs on Sunday, 4 August, to reports of a young boy thrown from the tenth floor viewing platform of the Tate Modern in Bankside SE1.
"Officers attended along with colleagues from London Ambulance Service and London's Air Ambulance.
"The six year-old victim was found on a fifth floor roof. He was treated at the scene and taken to hospital by London's Air Ambulance. The boy's condition is critical; his family are being supported by police.
"A 17-year-old male had remained with members of the public on the tenth-floor viewing platform. There is nothing to suggest that he is known to the victim.
"The teenager was arrested by police officers on suspicion of attempted murder and taken into police custody.
"A number of members of the public are assisting police with witness statements. Visitors to the gallery have been allowed to leave."
The outdoor viewing area and a rooftop bar sit atop the Tate Modern, which is Britain's national gallery of international modern art. Visitors to the open terrace get panoramic views of the British capital.
The gallery's website boasts of "awe-inspiring 360 degree views of the London skyline, from high above the River Thames".
Located on the south side of the Thames, the gallery was the UK's most popular tourist attraction in 2018, generating 5.9 million visits, according to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.
