Tate Modern fall: Boy, aged 6, 'making amazing progress'

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Police car and ambulances outside the Tate ModernImage source, PA Media
Image caption,

Emergency services were called to the Tate Modern on 4 August

A six-year-old boy who was allegedly thrown off a balcony at the Tate Modern is making "amazing progress", his family have said.

The boy, who was visiting London with his family, suffered a "deep" bleed to the brain in the fall on 4 August.

He "can't speak or move his body for the moment" but was responding to his family by smiling and laughing.

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder. A trial will start on 3 February at the Old Bailey.

The six-year-old boy, who is a French national, fell five floors from a 10th floor viewing platform.

A court previously heard he sustained a fractured spine, along with leg and arm fractures.

Image source, Stuart Haggas
Image caption,

The boy was taken to hospital after he was found on a fifth floor roof

In their statement, his family thanked people for their support and said he remained in hospital.

They said: "Even if he can't speak or move his body for the moment, we now know for sure that he understands us.

"He smiles and we saw him laughing several times since a couple of days when we were telling him some funny things or when we were reading to him some stories.

"It gives us lots of strength and hope, as much as the strength you, all of you, give us since the beginning with your kind messages."

A GoFundMe page has already raised nearly €60,000 (£54,000) for the boy and his family to help with "medical funds".

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