A three-year-old British boy has died after falling out of a fourth-floor window in a hotel corridor.
The child was on holiday with his family in Cyprus and playing with his dad, aged 37, when the tragedy occurred.
Having checked into the hotel in Chloraka, Paphos, on Saturday, their holiday had only just begun.
Then, at around 6:40pm yesterday, local police received a call after the boy plunged 33ft onto the main veranda and was unresponsive to paramedics.
As reported by local news outlet Sigma Live, the toddler slipped from the father’s arms while waiting for the lift to arrive.
They had left their room, along with the child’s grandfather, to head for dinner on the ground floor.
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One side of the double window, approximately 2.5 to 3m long and 1.20m high, was open next to them, which the dad reportedly did not realise.
Despite the best efforts of emergency services as he was rushed to Paphos General Hospital, the child was fatally injured and could not be saved.
The dad was arrested on suspicion of negligence at 10pm, Police Director Michalis Nicolaou confirmed, and appeared in court at 11am today, where the hearing was briefly interrupted when he burst into tears.
He appeared without a lawyer, as the family said, due to the incident and their traumatised states, they had not been able to arrange legal representation for him.
A translator explained to the man that he would be remanded for eight days to assist with enquiries, to which he did not object.
He faces charges of causing death by a reckless, negligent, or dangerous act, neglect of duty as the head of a family, and failing in his responsibility as a person having care of another.
An investigation into the circumstances of the boy’s death is ongoing, and the area around the hotel remains cordoned off.
The Paphos Criminal Investigation Department says it will gather a supplementary statement from the father and further statements from those at the scene.
As well as the son, the couple has another child, a five-year-old girl, who is with them in Cyprus for a holiday scheduled to last until July 25. They are joined too by the mother’s parents.
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