US News

TOTS SURVIVE 3-STORY FALL

A pair of Brooklyn tots miraculously survived a terrifying fall out of an apartment window today, plunging three stories without even breaking a bone, officials said.

Melvin Castelon, 5, and his 3-year-old sister, Michelle, were playing near an open window in their aunt’s Rugby Road apartment when the window guard suddenly gave way shortly after 10 a.m., police said.

Seconds later, the siblings were on the sidewalk, crying and bleeding beside the faulty window guard.

The banged-up kids were rushed to Kings County Hospital, where they were treated for concussions.

They were held overnight for observation.

The building’s landlord was cited for failing to secure the guard properly, a city official said.

An inspector said three other window guards in the apartment were missing and that a guard covering the kitchen window was inverted.

No criminal charges were filed.

Residents said they could hear the impact from the kiddies’ fall down the block.

“I heard something go ‘boom,’ ” said Norma Rosado, 49, a neighbor.

“I saw the bars on the ground with the children. The boy, he got up, and then he fell again. The girl was crying. She was bleeding.”

Residents said the children’s parents were not home at the time of the accident but rushed to the scene in time to meet an ambulance.

“The little girl was kneeling down,” said neighbor Stacy Jacobs, 41.

“She looked disoriented. She was bleeding from her nose, and her face was swollen.

“The little boy was lying down on his back.”

In the coming weeks, as temperatures warm up, inspectors will be paying closer attention to open windows, officials said.

The number of children falling from windows usually increases during summer months.

Last year, nine children under the age of 16 were injured or killed after falling out of unprotected windows, according to city records.

Under New York City law, apartments housing children age 10 or younger must have guards installed on all windows except those leading to fire escapes.

Guards are also required on first-floor windows.

The New York City Housing Authority will install guards at no cost to tenants but must first be notified on forms that, under law, must be distributed annually by landlords.

john.doyle@nypost.com