Gardaí say they are continuing to investigate the circumstances that led to a two-year-old boy falling from the sixth floor of the Strand Hotel, Limerick, last Saturday after accessing the rooftop balcony.
According to neighbours, Neil Shanahan was with his mother Martina and his infant brother attending a coffee morning event at the hotel when he wandered off in the direction of an escalator on the ground floor.
The injured toddler rode an escalator to the top floor of the hotel before venturing out on to a rooftop balcony.
Gardaí are interviewing hotel staff and collecting CCTV footage as their investigation continues.
Critical condition
The toddler was apparently seen by one eyewitness hanging on to the hotel sign, located six floors up, before falling about 20 metres on to tables and chairs in a smoking area.
The boy is said to be in a critical condition in Temple Street children’s hospital, Dublin, where he is being treated for multiple injuries.
A woman, who was at the hotel at the time of the incident, and who did not wish to be identified, said: “I am just devastated at what happened. My thoughts and prayers are with the family.”
A spokesperson for the Strand Hotel said they could not comment on speculation about the incident.
Superintendent Derek Smart of Henry Street Garda station in Limerick said that while gardaí were “treating it as a tragic accident”, the circumstances which led to the boy accessing the rooftop balcony were still being investigated.