The ten-month-old baby, who fell from the third floor of a building in Sarcelles (Val-d'Oise) on Monday morning, is still hospitalized at Necker Hospital in Paris. "If the vital prognosis of the child no longer seems engaged, his state of health remains very worrying," says the prosecutor of Pontoise, Pierre Sennès. In particular, the child has multiple fractures.
The day after the facts, the investigation, entrusted to the departmental security of Val-d'Oise, is oriented on the hypothesis of an accidental fall of the little girl and a lack of surveillance. While she was on the balcony, alone, she managed, because of her small size, to pass through the bars of the balcony before falling into the void, says the prosecutor's office, confirming the remarks made by a neighbor met on the spot on Tuesday.
Unintentional injury investigation
The nanny of the little girl, as well as her son who was present in the apartment in the Rosiers district at the time of the facts, were both placed in custody. An investigation was opened for "unintentional injuries by recklessness and negligence and for non-assistance to person in danger," says the Pontoise prosecutor's office.
The alert was given Monday morning at 10:40 am, when the baby was taken to the Sarcelles Village medical center. The fire brigade and a medical team from the paediatric Smur had been able to take care of the child, provide him with first aid on the spot, before transporting the little victim to Necker under motorized escort of the police. The baby had actually been discovered at the bottom of the building in Algeria earlier by movers. They had taken him back to the 3rd floor apartment where he was entrusted to a nanny.
According to the first elements collected, she may have been busy shopping outside at the time the child found himself on the balcony. The nanny's son was present in the accommodation. However, the precise time when the child fell and the time elapsed between the fall and its discovery on the ground by movers must be established by the investigation. It must also consider the status of the nanny. There are indications that it may not be approved or declared.