Mother in Athens throws child off balcony and jumps, killing both herself and daughter

The neighbourhood of Neos Kosmos in Athens has been left deeply saddened after a mother threw her 4-year-old daughter off a fifth-floor apartment balcony before jumping, killing both her child and herself.

"The child cried and shouted for her dad, the mother threw her and jumped too," said an eyewitness who has been left in a state of shock.

"I heard baby voices and screaming," the woman recalls.

"I asked the mother, 'what are you doing?' "What do you want?” She responded. The child was crying, "I want my dad". I saw the little girl hanging out from the balcony. 'The child is outside the balcony,' I said. "You can’t see, properly, take your glasses off," she said to me."

"I then told her, 'Don’t do it, I’ll help you.' But she said, “You can’t,” before she threw her daughter and jumped," recalls the eyewitness.

The 4-year-old girl was taken by ambulance to the Children's Hospital where doctors later pronounced her dead.

According to reports, the father had just arrived home and attempted to enter the apartment, however, the 44-year-old woman had locked the doors and the man couldn’t make his way inside to help.

Authorities are investigating the tragedy and trying to determine what led the mother to the murder-suicide.

*Image source: Eurokinissi