Boy of 10 falls to his death from 18th floor

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Christian Castano plunged 18 floors after slipping from the ledge and losing his grip as he struggled to hold on to the window's handles.

Neighbours told how the child had been waving to friends, slipped, tried to grab the window frame but was not strong enough to support himself.

They tried to revive Christian but he died in hospital following the fall on Saturday evening. Residents claim the council had failed to repair the window, which should only have opened a few inches, despite requests.

Neighbour Barry Farquhar, 34, said Christian must have leaned against the window which opened wider than it should have done and was left hanging from the 18th floor. The father of four said: "It would have been like holding onto a saw. He was calling to his friends down below about going on holiday. I then heard people screaming. I spent 10 or 15 minutes trying to resuscitate him.

"The windows are the problem. The locks and maintenance are not satisfactory. They open from the bottom. He was leaning on them and they opened enough for him to fall out. A lot of people have discussed the faults with regard to the windows."

Christian lived in Whitstable House in North Kensington with his parents - believed to be Carla and Alexander - and two brothers, Steven, eight, and Andre, 18 months.

One neighbour claimed Christian's mother alerted the housing association, Kensington and Chelsea tenant management organisation, to the faulty window two years ago. "On Sunday, after Christian's death, someone from the council turned up and asked if anyone had problems with the windows," she said. "It's disgraceful that it takes a child to fall to his death for anyone to bother."

A housing association spokesman said: "This is a terrible tragedy and we will be investigating. Since the beginning of the year we had only been notified of two minor problems with the windows, neither of which concerned the width restrictors and both were repaired promptly."