A 17-year-old boy from England is being treated as brain-dead after falling from the balcony of a hotel in Halandri, a northern suburb of Athens, in the early hours of Friday.

The teenager was picked up in an extremely critical condition and taken to the Red Cross Hospital in Athens, where he has since been declared brain-dead.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the serious accident.

According to information gathered so far, before the incident the minor and a friend had illegally bought alcohol from a kiosk. In order to make the purchase, they allegedly showed a fake driving licence.

The employee who sold them the alcohol was arrested on charges of endangerment and violating legislation on the sale of tobacco and alcohol.

The 17-year-old was in Greece on holiday with his family.

The accident occurred at around 5 a.m., when the teenager, under circumstances that remain unclear, fell from the first floor. He was collected by an EKAV ambulance crew, Greece’s emergency medical service, and transferred to the Red Cross Hospital.