A London hospital received an unauthorized visitor when a fox fell through the ceiling of the children's ward, The Independent reported Monday.
Eight children were in the children's ward at North Middlesex University Hospital, in Edmonton, when part of the ceiling and the fox came crashing down.
The patients were evacuated and local animal rescuers were called to the scene. But by the time they arrived the furry creature fled out of the window. Both the children and fox were not harmed during the incident, which occurred in June, The Independent reported.
"It's not something I've ever heard of happening before," a hospital spokesperson told the newspaper.
The children were relocated and the ward was shut down for several days while the ceiling was repaired, the unnamed spokesperson said. The fox most likely gained access to the hospital through the roof at a time the hospital was under construction.
Other incidents involving foxes have led British officials to call the animals "a pest and a menace," the newspaper reported. Last February, a fox bit off the finger of a baby boy in south-east London. Residents have been warned to not leave food for the animals.
Alterations were made to the 40-year-old hospital tower block where the incident occurred to prevent another animal from dropping in.
Another incident involving an animal falling through the roof turned out to be fatal. A Brazilian man was crushed to death last year when a one-ton cow fell through his roof and landed on him as he slept. The cow barely missed his wife who was asleep next to him.
