A 14-year-old girl was taken to hospital after falling from the roof of a children’s home in Pécs, southern Hungary, in an incident that occurred two weeks ago. Police have confirmed that a criminal investigation is underway, while the institution has also launched an internal inquiry into the circumstances of the accident.

According to the Baranya County Police Headquarters, the investigation is being conducted as criminal proceedings, but no further details have been released.

Girl had recently been returned to the home by police

Speaking to Telex, Szilárd Sinkó, director of the Baranya Child Protection Centre, said the girl had been returned to the children’s home by police after spending more than ten days away without permission.

After arriving back at the institution, she was taken to the room designated for overnight accommodation. According to the director, she then removed the screws securing the safety chains on a kitchen skylight connected to the room and climbed out onto the roof.

The staff member on duty noticed that the girl had disappeared and was about to call the emergency services when police officers arrived at the home with another child who had also been missing.

One of the home’s residents reported seeing someone on the roof. Police immediately alerted firefighters and paramedics before searching the area around the building, where they found the girl lying on the ground below.

She received treatment at the scene before being transported to the hospital. The institution said it could not provide any information about her current condition.

Safety measures reviewed after the accident

Sinkó said an internal investigation is examining exactly how the incident occurred. He noted that standard upstairs windows had already been fitted with additional safety restraints before the accident, but the girl had managed to bypass the security chain on the roof window.

The temporary safety chain has since been replaced with a tamper-resistant fixing, while a permanent technical solution will be installed by a specialist.

Have you heard? Two trams collided in Budapest: two people injured, major route disrupted

Director highlights wider problems in child protection system

The director also described broader challenges facing Hungary’s child protection system. He said that during night shifts, only one child supervisor is typically responsible for an entire group of children, with additional staff available only during daytime hours.

According to Sinkó, children entering institutional care are arriving with increasingly serious mental health issues, while staff shortages, low pay, aggressive behaviour towards employees, a lack of specialist placements and growing administrative burdens continue to put pressure on the system.

He added that children who leave the institution without permission often do so because they seek greater freedom, relationships outside the home or substance use, rather than because they wish to escape the institution itself.

The Baranya branch of Hungary’s Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection described the accident as deeply distressing for the injured girl, staff members and other children living at the home. Officials said the investigation aims not only to establish the circumstances and any potential responsibility, but also to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

If you missed it: Woman rescued after falling into the Danube in Budapest