The heart-stopping moment man saves babies from Paris apartment fire

A man leapt into action, going out onto a narrow ledge outside a Paris apartment to pull multiple people to safety during a fire.

A man is being hailed a hero after risking his life to save six people — including two infants — from a burning apartment in the northern district of Paris last week.

In a video shared by a TikTok user, 39-year-old Fousseynou Cissé was seen standing on a narrow ledge of a sixth-floor window as smoke billowed.

Cissé went to the neighbouring apartment, climbed out of the window and stood 20 metres high on a railing linking the two units.

As panic erupted, Cissé calmly urged two families trapped inside to pass their children out the window.

The footage, reportedly taken July 4, showed him helping two babies to safety through a nearby window before assisting four other people from the smoke-filled apartment.

According to Cissé, the evacuated children were handed over through a window by their mothers and passed to the neighbour in an adjacent apartment. Cissé then helped the two mothers to safety.

“I didn’t ask myself the question. There were lives at stake, I didn’t calculate,” Cissé told French news outlet Le Parisien.

His bravery didn’t go unnoticed, as he received a personal call of praise from French President Emmanuel Macron, who commended him for his heroic actions, according to Le Parisien.

Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said on Monday that he would be awarding Cissé a medal “in recognition of his courage and dedication.”

His is also expected to be formally honoured by the city of Paris.

With files from The Associated Press