Boy is killed by log thrown from Berlin tower block

10-year-old admits deliberately hurling 15kg tree stump from upper floor of tower block

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An eight-year-old boy has been killed by a log thrown from a 15-floor block of flats in Berlin.

The child was struck by a 15kg tree stump as he cycled past the building, police in the German capital said. He died at the scene.

A 10-year-old boy, a neighbour of the victim, has admitted to throwing the log after being questioned by detectives.

Police said witnesses and CCTV footage had pointed to his involvement.

Clothes he was seen wearing at the time were found in his parents’ apartment, on a housing estate in the city’s Reinickendorf district.

Murder detectives launched an investigation after witnesses said someone had deliberately thrown the log from a balcony on an upper floor of the building on Sunday evening.

Officers conducted door-to-door enquiries and forensic examination of balconies throughout the building.

Suspicion eventually fell on the 10-year-old boy, who has not been arrested because of his young age, reported the Berliner Morgenpost.

Investigators believe he had not intended to harm the victim but had thrown the log without considering the consequences.

Flowers and tributes have been left for the younger boy at the foot of the tower block.