Zvezdara: 3-Year-Old Girl Falls From Third-Floor Window

A three-year-old girl fell from the third floor of a residential building on Ljube Davidovica Street in Belgrade’s Zvezdara neighborhood on August 26, at around 3:40 p.m. The child climbed onto a bed, opened a window and fell onto the pavement below the building.

At the moment of the accident, the girl was in the care of her grandmother, 73. According to reports in the daily press, the fall happened after the grandmother lost sight of her granddaughter for a few moments.

An ambulance crew took the girl, conscious, to the University Children’s Hospital in Tirsova Street. She is unofficially out of life-threatening danger. Police arrived at the scene and are working to establish the full circumstances of the accident.

What did the neighbor hear at the moment of the fall?

A neighbor who heard what was happening described the details to Kurir Television, on the morning program “Redakcija,” in an interview with journalist Ines Grk. At first, he said, he thought it was children fighting out on the street.

“I heard some wailing, and I thought it was the usual thing, that the kids had shoved each other around, gotten into a scuffle,” the neighbor told Kurir Television.

It was only when he looked out the window that he realized something more serious had happened.

“It was such a cry, God forbid anyone should hear it again, that I honestly didn’t know what was going on, even though it was practically right below my own apartment. When I opened the window, I saw the neighbors had run outside. I’m so glad the child survived,” he said.

According to him, within moments the street filled with neighbors who rushed out of the building as soon as they heard what had happened, and the girl was quickly given help and taken to the hospital.

How the investigation into the circumstances continues

There has been no official statement from the Interior Ministry (MUP) about the accident so far. At the time of publication, Tanjug reported that the circumstances of the accident, which occurred around 3:40 p.m., were still being established. Citing reports in the daily press, Kurir also noted that the girl had been in her grandmother’s care at the moment of the fall.

Cases in which a minor is hurt in a fall from height while left without adult supervision are, as a rule, reported to the competent public prosecutor’s office, which then assesses whether the elements of a criminal offense exist. The final assessment in such cases depends on the findings of the scene investigation, witness statements and medical documentation of the child’s injuries.

So far, no preliminary criminal proceedings have been reported against anyone, nor has it been disclosed exactly what injuries the girl sustained in the fall. The unofficial information that the child is out of danger remains the only detail available about her medical condition.

The criminal offense that prosecutors typically consider in such cases is endangering a minor or negligent supervision, depending on whether the guardian’s lapse is established as negligence or as a momentary lack of attention without elements of culpability. Any decision on the matter, if one is reached at all, would come from the competent prosecutor’s office only after witness statements, the scene investigation findings and medical documentation of the child’s injuries have been obtained.

The building on Ljube Davidovica Street is located in Zvezdara, one of Belgrade’s more densely populated municipalities. As of publication, neither the Interior Ministry nor the University Children’s Hospital in Tirsova Street had released further details about the girl’s condition. This report will be updated if authorities release an official statement on the progress of the investigation.