A FOUR year-old British girl was taken to hospital after she fell from a first floor balcony at the family’s holiday apartment near Lagos.
The incident happened on the evening of July 31 at the Vale da Ribeira resort.Lagos fire brigade and an emergency medical team were called by the family at around 8pm after the girl suffered a head injury and drowsiness after the fall.
A spokesman for Barlavento hospital told The Resident: “The girl was admitted to the short stay emergency paediatrics unit, where she stayed until being transferred to the normal paediatrics unit on Saturday morning.”
The girl was discharged from hospital on Monday evening but, said the spokesman, she would be monitored by the day hospital for a few more days.
A spokesman for the British consulate in Portimão said: “We are not aware of the incident and have not been contacted by the family for assistance.” According to Elsa Rocha, a spokeswoman from the Portuguese association for child safety (APSI), three similar incidents have occurred in the Algarve this year, representing 50 per cent of all cases in Portugal.
In a separate incident, a Portuguese girl, aged three, fell from a second floor balcony in Matosinhos, in the north of Portugal, last thursday and was taken to São João hospital in Porto.
The girl’s grandmother, Maria Soares told Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã: “Her mother brought her away from the window but, in a matter of seconds, a neighbour was knocking at the door and shouting that the girl had fallen.”
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