Police were called on the morning of Thursday, October 31, to reports that an infant had fallen from a height.

When officers arrived at the scene in Tottenham, north London, they found a baby in critical condition. The child was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead a short time later.

The child is reported to have fallen from the ninth floor of an apartment block.

Meral Dervik, who lives in the same block as the family, said the infant’s mother had been complaining to the local Haringey council about a faulty window handle at her home for two months to no avail.

“The window, it was faulty. Nearly two months, that was what [the mother] was saying. She was calling the council to come to fix it. The handle was not secure,” Dervik told the Press Association.

“I had the same problems with the windows, even the glass is broken.”

Describing the boy’s mother, Dervik added: “She was looking after the kids brilliantly, she cared about the children.”

London’s Metropolitan Police Service said a formal identification and post-mortem examination will take place in due course. No arrests have been made and a cordon has been put in place around the apartment block.

“Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 10:51hrs on Thursday, 31 October to reports of a baby falling from height in High Road, N17,” a police spokesperson added.

“Officers, the London Ambulance Service, London’s Air Ambulance and the London Fire Brigade attended and found the baby boy in a critical condition. The child, believed to be aged 18 months, was taken to a north London hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:39hrs.

“Enquiries into the full circumstances continue.”

In a statement to Newsweek, Zina Etheridge, Haringey Council Chief Executive, said: “Our deepest sympathies are with the family at this time.

“We can confirm that the block is managed by Homes for Haringey, who are carrying out a full investigation into the circumstances.

“The police are currently investigating and it would be inappropriate for us to comment further, or speculate, until more is known about this very sad incident.”

The council did not comment on the faulty window handle allegations.

The London Ambulance Service confirmed: “We sent a number of resources to the scene including ambulance crews, an incident response officer and our hazardous area response team. London’s Air Ambulance was also dispatched.

“We treated an infant at the scene and took them to hospital as a priority.”