Windows in hotel where 5-year-old Afghan fell was ‘accident waiting to happen’

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A recent guest was shocked by the widening of the “dangerous” window that opened in her room at the Metropolitan Hotel in Sheffield, where Afghan refugee Muhammad Munib Majidi had fallen to his death.

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A salute at the place where a 5-year-old Afghan boy fell from the window

A guest recently claimed that the windows in a hotel where a five-year-old Afghan boy fell to his death were a “dangerous” and “accident waiting to happen”.

Muhammad Munib Majidi’s family had fled the Taliban just days before he fell out of a window at the OYO Metropolitan Hotel in Sheffield.

One mum from Sheffield, who stayed twice in the hotel earlier this month, said her first room was “so hot” that she had to open the window, but was shocked to realize it was swinging from below and had no latch.

“We were like, ‘Wow, this window is so dangerous,'” the 31-year-old woman, who asked not to be identified, told The Mirror. We said we would never stay there if we had our baby.

“There was no latch on the window. I opened as hard as I could.

“If I were to walk and stumble near the window, I would be afraid of falling.”

Five-year-old Afghan refugee Muhammad Munib Majidi died after falling from a hotel window.

picture:

Ben Lack Photography Ltd) another guest wrote a complaint on Facebook about the window opening in her room being ‘too wide’)

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Facebook)

The woman, who has a small child, has stayed at the hotel with her partner on two occasions as it offers some of the cheapest rooms in town.

In the second room, she said the window “did not seem to open wide” but had no latches.

During her second stay, she tried to book an extra night but was told she couldn’t because the hotel was required for “government purposes”.

It is now used temporarily to house Afghans who worked with British forces or the embassy in Kabul before the country collapsed into Taliban rule at the weekend.

The woman said she felt “sick” after seeing the news of Muhammad’s death.

She added, “It made me cry. It affected me so badly, it made me really frustrated. It was just an accident waiting to happen.”

A mother who complained in 2019 shared pictures of her room window and parking lot below (

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Facebook) The boy fell about 70 feet out of a window before landing in a parking lot (

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Yorkshire Live/Men)

“Any child who sat on the window sill, if the window was not properly locked, [could fall out].

“The window has a handle and you push the button and rotate the handle and it opens.”

The woman said she wished she had complained to the hotel staff about the window, though she doesn’t think any action would have been taken.

In 2019, a woman staying at the hotel with her children complained about windows in a post on the hotel’s Facebook page.

A 5-year-old Afghan boy, fallen to death from a window at the Sheffield Hotel, heard his name and the photo of a hotel guest, a clamor and then my mother’s cry “My son!” When an Afghan refugee, 5, fell to death

She shared a photo showing a wide open window in her room, a parking lot, and a road below.

“I couldn’t open the window because it was so wide that I was afraid my children would fall,” the woman wrote.

The tragic Mohammed was staying at the hotel with his parents, two brothers and two sisters. His father worked at the British Embassy in Kabul.

Witnesses said he fell 70 feet from a ninth-floor room, landing in a parking lot behind the hotel, around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Witnesses say the boy fell from the ninth floor of the OYO Metropolitan Hotel in Sheffield (

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Getty Images)

One hotel resident, who is also an interpreter for the British in Afghanistan, said: “I was in my room. I heard a sound as if I heard the body fall.

His mother was with him in the room. She was shouting: My son, my son.

He said the family came to the UK three or four weeks ago, landed at Birmingham airport, and then stayed in Manchester during a Covid quarantine.

The family then moved to the hotel in Sheffield just three or four days ago and the father was considered the “new man” among the Afghans living there.

The translator added: “If the father works for the Americans or the English, their lives are in danger in Afghanistan.

“They came here to save their lives, they came for a new life here, but unfortunately…”

He said the windows in his room would open only a few inches.

He said the eight to ten Afghan families staying at the hotel were moved to another hotel on Thursday afternoon.

Teddy bear and flowers outside the OYO Metropolitan Hotel in Sheffield (

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Getty Images)

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “His family has now officially recognized him and they are being supported by the Family Liaison Officers. We would like to ask that their privacy be respected at this time.”

“Officers are appealing to anyone with information relating to the incident to come forward.”

The Refugee Council has called for a review of the facilities provided to those fleeing the Taliban in the wake of the tragedy.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “This is a terrible tragedy, and our thoughts are with the family who have gone through so much trauma and suffering to get to the UK.

“It is critical that the Home Office conduct an urgent investigation into what happened so that steps can be taken to learn lessons quickly.”

Chancellor Terry Fox, chair of Sheffield City Council, said: “I am deeply saddened that a boy lost his life in this way.

“My deepest thoughts are with the family of Mohamed Al Sagheer, I can’t imagine what they are going through. As a council, we were at the hotel to help, and in partnership with the police, we will support the family in any way we can.”

“While details are still emerging and police continue to investigate, it is not appropriate for me to comment further, except to say this is a very sad time.”

The Mirror has contacted OYO for comment.

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