TRAGIC CRY
Mum of Afghan boy, 5, screams ‘my son, my son’ as he falls from UK hotel’s 9th floor window days after fleeing Kabul
THE MOTHER of a five-year-old Afghan refugee boy who plunged to his death from a hotel's 9th floor window cried "my son, my son" as he fell, a witness said.
Little Mohammed Munib Majeedi died yesterday just days after he and his family arrived in the UK while fleeing the Taliban to seek a safer life.
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It's believed he died after plunging about 70ft around 2.30pm from a ninth-floor room window at the OYO Metropolitan Hotel in Sheffield.
His dad, Omar Majeedi, had worked at the British Embassy in Kabul before the family were relocated to the UK.
A hotel resident, also an interpreter for the British in Afghanistan, said: "I was in my room.
"I heard a sound, like I heard the body fall.
"His mother was in the room with him. She was screaming, 'My son, my son.'
"When I came here (outside) I saw the ambulance and police here."
The hotel houses hero Afghans and their families who worked alongside the British Army and authorities, but escaped to the UK as the Taliban swept across their country.
The little boy's tragic death comes after fellow guests complained about the "dangerous" windows at the hotel.
HOTEL HORROR
In 2019, a guest posted chilling photos on social media showing how wide the hotel's high-floor windows could be extended, Sun Online can reveal.
In a complaint posted on the hotel's Facebook page, the mum wrote: "It is not child friendly, has huge health and safety issues.
"I could not open the window as it opened so wide I was scared my children would fall out."
Next to another photo of a wide-open window, she added: "Look at this. No safety whatsoever.
"A sleepless night if you have children and it’s hot & your not given a fan!"
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Sun Online has contacted the hotel for comment.
Last night, inspectors could be seen opening hotel windows, revealing some left a gap of one and a half foot, which a child could easily climb though.
Police are not treating the boy's death as suspicious.
One hotel resident who served as an interpreter with the British Army in Afghanistan for two years, arrived in the UK with his family on July 27.
The 32-year-old told Sun Online: "It happened at around 2pm and he fell from the ninth floor at the back of the hotel.
“He can’t have been in England very many weeks. We spent two weeks in quarantine in Manchester and moved into this hotel five days ago.”
He can’t have been in England very many weeks
Former British Army interpreter staying at the hotel
His mother witnessed yesterday's horror fall and shouted "save my son, please".
Another former British Army interpreter, 35, accompanied the boy's distraught mum to hospital.
He told Sun Online: "There was a crowd and there was shouting. I saw out the window there was a child fallen down.
"I came downstairs. Some police officers came there. His mother was crying.
"The hotel colleagues were also present and they told me he had fallen down from the ninth floor.
'SHOCKED'
"I explained that the lady didn't speak English and someone should translate for her. Then I went with them to the hospital.
"She explained to me that he was standing close to the window and he was watching downstairs."
The tragic boy's dad, Omar Majeedi, a senior humanitarian worker, had worked for the British Embassy in Kabul until they fled to England recently.
He had worked in the role as a projects manager handling Afghan migrants returning to the country since December, 2020.
A friend and ex-colleague of Mr Majeedi said he was "shocked" to hear of the little boy's death.
Speaking from Kabul, the 39-year-old told Sun Online: "He [Mr Majeedi] worked with the British Embassy in Kabul.
"That is why the embassy relocated himself and his family due to the situation in Afghanistan.
"I just said goodbye to [the little boy] at the airport. I hugged him, He was raised in front of me. I passed him every day as we lived one one street.
"When I was at the airport saying goodbye to Majeedi, I just hugged his small kid. I remember he was doing childish acts.
"I can't understand how this happened. I am shocked."
TRAGIC FALL
Police vehicles remained at the scene last night, with security guards in hi-viz jackets turning people away at the main entrance to the 111-bedroom hotel.
Inspectors could be seen testing hotel windows, with video footage showing one opening wide enough for a child to slip through.
The neighbouring NCP car park was sealed off by police following
the tragedy at the hotel on Blonk Street.
In a post on the hotel's TripAdvisor page earlier this month, a guest said their booking was cancelled as the hotel was closing to take refugees.
The families were relocated as the Afganistan government collapsed and the Taliban seized power again nearly 20 years after being driven out by the West.
Heartbreaking scenes have emerged this week as thousands of people were evacuated in US and UK airlifts.
Desperate mums have been throwing babies over razor wire at a compound at Kabul airport as they begged British paratroopers to take them to safety.
The horrifying scenes come as the merciless Taliban have been beating women and gunning down unarmed protesters.
A Government spokesman said: "We are extremely saddened by the tragic death of a child at a hotel in Sheffield.
“The police are providing support to the family while the investigation continues and we cannot comment further at this time.”
A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "We are sorry to share a boy has sadly died after falling from a building in Sheffield this afternoon.
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"Emergency services were called to the Sheffield Metropolitan Hotel on
Blonk Street, Sheffield at around 2.30pm today (18 August) after
reports the boy had fallen from a window.
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"The boy’s family are being supported by specially trained officers.
No formal identification has taken place yet.
"Enquiries are in the early stages to establish the exact
circumstances surrounding the incident."
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