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TOT TOWER PLUNGE

Mum of tot who fell 80ft to her death ‘was pregnant but suffered a miscarriage when she saw her daughter’s body’

Witnesses also revealed the mother had been heard arguing shortly before the tot fell from a seventh floor window

THE grief-stricken mother of the toddler who plunged 80ft to her death was pregnant but suffered a miscarriage when she saw her daughter's body, witnesses revealed.

Witnesses also revealed the mum had been heard arguing shortly before the 18-month-old tot fell from the window of a seventh floor tower block in Birmingham.

Police cordon off the scene as the baby girl's body is covered following the tragedy
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Police cordon off the scene as the baby girl's body is covered following the tragedy

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The 18-month-old girl is believed to have fallen from a window on the seventh floor on Monday morning
The view from the seventh floor where an young girl fell to her death
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The view from the seventh floor where an young girl fell to her deathCredit: Caters News Agency

Passers-by desperately tried to catch the girl who plunged to her death from a ten-storey tower block.

The youngster, named locally as Elean, was seen "hanging" from an open window moments before she tumbled from a seventh floor window yesterday morning.

Eyewitnesses said her mother was screaming as she stood over her daughter's body.

The toddler's dad is also believed to have been at the scene.

Emergency services were called to Ryland House in the Newtown area of the city around 11.55am on Monday but the tot died at the scene.

Eyewitness Georgie Anderson, 14, who laid flowers at the scene with her mum sobbed as she described in graphic detail the little girl's final moments.

She said: "I saw a baby hanging out of the window.

"A crowd had gathered at the ground and they tried to catch her. Then she fell from the window.

"It makes me feel terrified and I'm still in shock."

A young girl lays a teddy bear at the scene of the tragedy
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A young girl lays a teddy bear at the scene of the tragedyCredit: Caters News Agency
Baby fall tributes
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A card with heartfelt messages of condolence rests on the grass where the tragic tot diedCredit: Caters News Agency
The seventh floor window from where the youngster fell to her death in Newtown, Birmingham
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The seventh floor window from where the youngster fell to her death in Newtown, BirminghamCredit: SWNS

Frederick Dzirasa, 36, leader of recently-formed charity Ascending Achievement, said: "I have heard people saying the parents were arguing shortly before the baby fell, but it don't know if that contributed to what happened.

"I also heard that the mother was pregnant and suffered from a miscarriage when she saw her dead daughter on the ground."

Devastating pictures emerged today of distraught police officers standing guard over the baby girl's body which was draped in a simple white blanket.

The youngster and her parents are of Sudanese descent.

Terence Browne, 45, added: "It was the most heartbreaking scene I have ever seen in my life.
"Several of the police officers were in tears.
"I spoke to someone who saw the mother of the girl because she heard her screaming.
";She said she looked like her world had been ripped in two, she was beating her hands against her head shaking violently before she collapsed."

A woman who was shopping in Costcutter at the time, added: "I was in the shop when we all heard screaming and a commotion outside.

"My colleague ran out and he came back in shaking and looking as white as a ghost."

Floral tributes have been laid at the scene of the tragedy.

Supermarket worker Marcus Tyers told the : "I was serving in the shop when I heard shouting and screaming from outside.

"I went over and a baby girl was lying on the grass. She was obviously dead.

"It was the worst thing I have ever seen. I’m still in shock today.

"I can’t get that image out of my head.

"Her mother was standing over her crying and screaming.

"Her dad was there as well.

"People came over but there was nothing they could do."

Locals said the family have links to Sudan and had been only been living in the flat for the past two months.

Parents protest at Birchfield Community School
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Local MP Shabana Mahmood has called for a thorough investigation into the tragedyCredit: Birmingham Post And Mail
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A mourner lays flowers at the scene of the tragedyCredit: SWNS

John Ward, 67, who lives opposite the flats where the tot fell, said: "The whole community is in shock.

"There are safety locks on all the windows, which stop the windows from opening very widely.

"But some people seem to have taken them off because their windows open all the way out."

One woman at the scene, who gave her name as Urma, said the windows could easily be unlocked by kids.

She said: “The windows in that block have safety catches, but a child can easily unlock them and climb out.”

The incident happened opposite the Huda Community Centre, popular with the Sudanese and Somalian community.

Local MP Shabana Mahmood has called for a thorough investigation into the tragedy.

She said: "This is just completely awful and I can only imagine what the family must be feeling right now.

Floral tributes have been left at the scene of the tragedy
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Floral tributes have been left at the scene of the tragedy in Newtown, Birmingham

Devastated neighbours have attached flowers to the gates outside the tower block where the tot fell to her death
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Devastated neighbours have attached flowers to the gates outside the tower block where the tot fell to her deathCredit: Birmingham Mail

"It is vital that the police and the coroner get to the bottom of how this happened so that we can help ensure that such a terrible tragedy does not happen again."

Neighbours have held a vigil for the tragic tot last night.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "Crews arrived to find a girl who had fallen from a window.

"Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that nothing could be done to save her and she was confirmed dead at the scene.”

A spokesperson for West Midlands Police said: "Police are investigating after a child fell from the seventh floor of a block of flats in Great Hampton Row, Hockley, at around 11.55am yesterday (Monday).

"The child, aged 18 months, tragically died at the scene.

"The death is currently being treated as unexplained and a post mortem will take place in due course. The coroner has been informed."