Six-year-old boy dies after falling from 15th floor of east London tower block

• The boy jumped from Jacobs House, New City Road, Newham, just after 6am

A six-year-old boy died today after falling more than 150 meters from a high-rise tower block in London.

The young man plunged from the 15th floor of Jacobs House on New City Road in Newham just after 6am.

Scotland Yard is treating the death as “unexpected” but no arrests have been made.

A relative said the boy’s father is currently in Canada and both parents are “devastated” and “in a bad way”.

A neighbor described the little boy as “cute” and said the grieving mother could barely speak today.

People who live in the 16-storey 1960s block, where flats can cost up to £200,000, have been left in “total shock” by the young man’s death and want answers about how it happened.

She told the Evening Standard that some of the family were in hospital.

“Other family members are in the apartment,” she said.

“It seems that the boy woke up early and then fell from the window.

“It was an accident, but no one knows how it happened. People are looking for answers.

Another parent told the paper he was “terrified” of windows when his child was young and had always locked them.

Council staff are currently at the block reassuring residents and trying to piece together what happened.

The Metropolitan Police said: “We were called at 5.58am on Thursday 16 May to reports that a child had fallen from a height on New City Road, E13.

“Officers, London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service and London Air Ambulance attended.

“At the scene, a six-year-old boy had fallen from an upper floor of a block of flats.

“Despite the best efforts of the emergency services, he unfortunately died at the scene. His family is aware and is being supported.

“The death is being treated as unexpected and inquiries are being made to establish the full circumstances.”

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called at 5.59am today to reports of a person who had fallen from a height on New City Road, Plaistow.

“We sent resources to the scene including ambulance crews, a paramedic in a rapid response vehicle and an incident response officer. We also sent a trauma team in a car from the London Air Ambulance.

“Our first paramedics were on the scene in about four minutes.

“Very sad, a child was pronounced dead at the scene.”

A spokesman for Newham Council said they were “deeply sorry to hear about this devastating incident, we send our sincere condolences to all those affected”.

They said: “We have staff on site to provide reassurance to residents at this difficult time while we work with partners to establish all the facts.”