Neighbors reported concerns about boy, 5, on day of fall from Zutphen balcony

Neighbors have reported concerns about the 5-year-old boy who fell from a fifth-floor balcony in Zutphen on Sunday, including on the day of the fall. They called the police on Sunday because they were worried about the boy, and the police took the mother and child with them. “To our great surprise, they were back home a few hours later,” a neighbor told Omroep Gelderland. The police reported late on Monday that the child was in a stable condition and no longer in intensive care.

A neighbor told the broadcaster that he heard the mother screaming from the balcony on Sunday evening. “My boy, not me, not anyone,” she allegedly yelled. About an hour later, the child fell from their fifth-floor apartment on Van Drinenstraat, landing at least 10 meters down on a grass field next to the building.

Acting Mayor Wimar Jaeger confirmed that the police visited the apartment building in Zutphen on Sunday. “We know that the police had contact with the mother and child earlier that day,” he said. “How exactly that happened and what happened there, that really needs to be looked at carefully before we can see how we can prevent such a tragedy in the future,” he told the broadcaster. “There is a history, we know that. But the most important thing is that the boy gets better as soon as possible.”

Jaeger is awaiting the police investigation for clarity on what happened on Sunday. “Then we can have a conversation together about: should we have acted differently here?”

The police investigation is ongoing and officers asked witnesses to come forward. The boy is no longer in critical condition. He was moved from intensive care to medium care, the police said on Monday evening.

The boy’s fall made a big impression on the other residents of the apartment building. The municipality organized a meeting for them on Monday, so that they could ask questions and share their feelings.

“It was good to reflect on it together like this,” a neighbor said afterward. Another told Omroep Gelderland that they previously warned the authorities that the woman was sometimes aggressive and unstable. She is disappointed in the municipality and the aid organizations in the neighborhood, she said.

“Where were these people when we sounded the alarm?” another neighbor said, referring to the support organizations who attended the meeting. “Apparently things have to go wrong completely before action is taken.”