Boy flung from 6th floor flat still in ICU
The three-year-old who was stabbed and flung from the sixth-floor balcony of a flat by his father is still in ICU in serious condition.
|||Johannesburg - The-three-year-old whose father hurled him off the sixth-floor balcony of their Hillbrow flat following a hostage drama this week is still recovering in hospital.
Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital spokeswoman Lungiswa Mvumvu said the boy was still in ICU.
Doctors are monitoring his condition closely as he seems to have a serious head injury, sustained from the fall early on Wednesday morning.
The child’s mother, who was admitted to the same hospital after her husband stabbed her in the lower body, is also in recovery.
“The mother is responding well to treatment; receiving counselling from the social workers. The baby is still in ICU on ventilation.
“Although he is conscious, he is being monitored closely because of the head injuries,” said Mvumvu.
The woman’s 11-year-old son, who was also stabbed by his father, was treated at the hospital and released into the care of a relative.
Gauteng police are still investigating the motive behind the attack by the 41-year-old on his family.
The man died after jumping from the Crestview flat building immediately after throwing the child off the balcony.
Provincial police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Tsekiso Mofokeng said the man and his wife had an argument at about 5pm on Tuesday.
The man attacked his wife and 11-year-old and held the 3-year-old hostage for hours.
The woman escaped and called the police, who brought in hostage negotiators who tried for hours to resolve the situation but were unsuccessful, and at about 1am the man threw the child from the balcony, then jumped himself.
Mofokeng has since denied speculation that the police shot at the man.
The family have declined to comment.
karishma.dipa@inl.co.za
The Star