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5-year-old hospitalized after falling out of a fifth-floor window in the Bronx

An investigation is underway in the Bronx after a child fell out of a five-story window and onto the sidewalk on Sunday afternoon.

That child is now recovering at NewYork-Presbyterian.

A loud thud

Crime scene tape went up in the area where police said the child fell -- at the corner of Buchanan Place and Davidson Avenue in University Heights.

Witnesses said they were standing out on the sidewalk at around 5:30 p.m. when they heard a loud thud. They said they then saw the child on the ground and he was not moving. They said they had no idea where he came from.

"We just heard the impact from the body, and his body hit the concrete," witness Tone Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said he couldn't believe what he saw -- a 5-year-old lying on his face. He said when police rolled the boy over he had several scratches.

"His face was all swollen on this side. He was like, you can tell he got hit bad. We were trying to figure out where he came from," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez and others quickly realized the child fell out of a window. He said he called 911 and even flagged down a police van driving by.

Window has window guards, building super says

The building superintendent later confirmed that the window in question on the fifth floor has window guards, which are safety devices for windows made to prevent children from falling out.

But it appears the boy climbed the guards and slipped through.

"He got through the window, but he took a minute to get through that because the window does have guards on it. He must have squeezed through it somehow," Rodriguez said.

Police said the child was rushed to the hospital, where he is recovering.

The investigation is ongoing.

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