THE family of late Scots pop legend Billy Mackenzie have been hit by a sixth tragedy after his sister died in a fall from a tenement window.

It is understood Elizabeth (Lizzie) Mclntosh, 51, fell from a second-floor Dundee flat into a backyard in what is believed to have been a tragic accident.

Ms Mclntosh is the fourth sibling to die tragically after the lead singer of renowned Dundee band The Associates, committed suicide in 1997, when he was 39.

Mr Mackenzie was discovered in a shed, close to his home in the Auchterhouse area of Dundee, by his father, Jim, who said at the time he had been having problems coming to terms with the death of his mother Lily from stomach cancer the previous year.

Mr Mackenzie left a note for his father in the cottage they were sharing, saying he had gone to visit friends in Dundee.

His brother, John Mackenzie, was 46 when he died in a fire at his home in Mary Slessor Square in October 2010.

Nine years earlier, Billy's younger brother, Jimmy, was 32 when he died of a drug overdose at the scene of the blaze days after being released from prison, four years after his brother's death.

Then three years later in 2004, their heartbroken dad died of cancer at the age of 66.

They are survived by brother Alex and sister Helen.

Paramedics rushed to the city's Lyon Street in a bid to save the woman's life after the alarm was raised on Monday.

She was taken to Ninewells Hospital but later died from her injuries.

Police have now launched an investigation into the incident.

Members of the public were refused entry into the communal garden with officers preserving the scene for investigations.

Flowers have been left at the entrance to the block of flats in tribute to Ms McIntosh.

One neighbour Scott Carmichael, 34, said: "We didn't hear anything, just a bang on the door from the police when they arrived.

"It's strange because that window is never open very much.

"I don't know how she managed it."

A family friend, said: "It's awful, I feel terrible for Alex and Helen, I really don't know what they'll be going through right now. It's heartbreaking for them."

A police spokeswoman said: "A woman, understood to be in her early 50s, has died after falling from a flat in Lyon Street, Dundee.

"The woman was taken to Ninewells Hospital, where she tragically died.

"Inquiries are continuing and Police Scotland would appeal to anyone who witnessed the incident to contact them on 101, or speak to any officer."

It is understood police believe there are no suspicious circumstances and are treating the death as a tragic accident.

Billy Mackenzie was suffering from depression when he took his life shortly after the death of his mother. He overdosed on a cocktail of drugs in the garden shed of his dad's house in Dundee in January 1997.

The death shocked the music world and songs by The Cure, Morrissey and The Smiths are said to be dedicated to him.

His distinctive soulful falsetto voice saw the influential art rock band he formed with Alan Rankine in 1979 earn a top 10 hit with their 1982 album Sulk, while their song Party Fears Two gave them their only UK top 10 hit.

Billy soon split from Rankine and later made repeated comeback attempts.

Rankine went on to become a lecturer in music at Stow College in Glasgow, and worked with Belle & Sebastian on their debut album, Tigermilk in 1996.