The condition of a six-year-old boy who was allegedly thrown from the 10th-floor of the Tate Modern is no longer life-threatening.
A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following the incident on the viewing platform of the art gallery.
Police were called at around 2.40pm on Sunday to the Tate Modern in Bankside, south London.
The child was found on a 5th floor roof and was taken to hospital by London’s Air Ambulance. A Met
police spokesman said he was no longer in a life-threatening condition.
“He is critical, but stable,” the spokesman added.
The male suspect had remained with members of the public after the incident on Sunday afternoon, the force said.
There is nothing to suggest that the 17-year-old suspect is known to the victim. #SouthwarkBREAKING: A child has been airlifted to hospital after falling from height at the #TateModern exhibition centre. Met police say a teenager has been arrested in connection with the incident. The child’s condition is currently unknown.Video: @AndyBanksideSE1pic.twitter.com/ll9cV2hEVA—
London 999 Feed (@999London) August 4, 2019Witnesses quickly began posting social media updates from the scene with a few people stating that Tate staff were temporarily ‘locked inside’ the building.
Visitors reported not being allowed in or out of the gallery while emergency services dealt with the incident.
Scotland Yard said a number of members of the public are assisting police with witness statements.
Administration worker Nancy Barnfield of Rochdale, was at the 10th-floor viewing gallery with a friend and their children when her friend heard a “loud bang”.
Barnfield 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.Air ambulance taken off. Still plenty of paramedics and police on the scene. Tate staff indicate they will allow those locked inside to leave soon pic.twitter.com/7KWM4aSUkG— Greg Ritchie (@greg_ritchie) August 4, 2019Barnfield 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”.
But most visitors only discovered that someone had been injured as they tried to leave.
A visitor, who did not want to give his name, said they could hear an air ambulance which had landed on the concrete walkway in front of the building.
A group of uniformed police officers could be seen going into one of the gallery entrances at 4.53pm as the metal shutters were brought down and visitors were turned away.
BBC journalist Jonny Dymond, who was in the gallery at the time of the incident, said visitors were funnelled into a main hall while all exits were closed.
He added: “There were quite a lot of families with children, and security guards told us we couldn’t leave. 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 gallery remained closed for the rest of Sunday.
A spokeswoman said: “Tate is working closely with the police to help with their investigations.
“All our thoughts are with the child and his family.”
The Tate Modern was the UK’s most popular tourist attraction in 2018 after being visited 5.9 million times, according to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.
With the schools having broken up and holiday season begun, there are likely to have been thousands of visitors to the gallery on Sunday.