Boy, 4, plunges to his death from family’s six-storey apartment as brother desperately tried to save him

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A FOUR-year-old child has died after plunging from the sixth floor of an apartment building seconds before his older brother raced to save him.

The little boy, named Ilyès, toppled from the balcony of his family’s home in a southeastern suburb of Paris.

He lived together in the flat in Choisy-le-Roi with his parents, his twin sister and three older siblings.

At around 6pm on Saturday, the youngster wandered off onto the balcony and began to clamber up the railings.

Spotting his treacherous position, the four-year-old’s elder brother rushed outside and scrambled to grab hold of him.

“He tried to grab him by the hair, but it was too late; the little boy fell”, recounted one distraught neighbour.

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One witness recalled the harrowing moment he heard the fall and went to investigate.

“I heard a boom” he said, adding “I went down to the street and saw the little boy on the sidewalk.

“He wasn’t crying, he wasn’t screaming, and he was still breathing…”

Wiping away tears, the man recounted: “I called the fire department and the police, then I brought some sheets. The fire station is just across the street.

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“They came running. And they actually climbed over the garden fences that separate us from the station to get there faster.”

Emergency services raced to the scene and rescucitated the child before rushing him off in an ambulance.

But the youngster tragically passed away the following morning.

The entire neighbourhood of Fernand-Pelloutier has been rocked by the tragedy with the mayor visiting the scene that same evening to speak to traumatised residents.

In a public statement, Mayor Tonino Panetta wrote: “It is with immense sadness and deep emotion that the City of Choisy-le-Roi learned of the tragic death of Ilyès.

“The elected officials, the City employees and I extend our most sincere thoughts and deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”

A psychological support helpline has been launched and the child’s teachers have been instructed on how to speak about the child’s death to classmates.

A mum who knew the boy’s mother from the schoolrun said: “She was a very devoted mother to her children, she cared about them all the time, and she took their return to school very seriously.”