TORONTO -- Two young children are safe after jumping into rescuers’ arms from the third-storey window of a burning apartment in eastern France.
A neighbour who lives in a nearby apartment complex, which is located in Saint Martin d’Heres on the outskirts of the city of Grenoble, captured the dramatic escape and rescue on video.
The video shows a crowd of people gathering below the third-floor apartment unit on Tuesday afternoon as flames and thick, black smoke billow from the window and balcony.
Two children were seen hanging out of the window and reportedly yelling that the door to the apartment was locked. Local media reported the children were three and 10 years old.
Screams and shouting are heard on the recording as some of the people standing below can be seen motioning with arm gestures encouraging the kids to jump.
The older child is then seen lowering the younger child out the window by his arms and letting go, before jumping and dropping himself more than 12 metres into the arms of rescuers below.
Souhaila Saidi, a woman who lives in a nearby apartment, told Storyful news agency that seeing the children preparing to jump made her “anxious and stressed.”
“Luckily they jumped one after the other without being seriously injured,” she added.
Dozens of firefighters were said to have responded to the scene to extinguish the fire. Seventeen people were reportedly injured during the incident, according to local media.
Grenoble’s mayor, Eric Piolle, posted a heartfelt message on Facebook the same day to congratulate those for their “heroic rescue” in helping catch the two children and to wish a good recovery to those hurt in the fire. “Hand in hand, they allowed the two little ones to get out unharmed from this drama,” Piolle wrote on Facebook.
It’s unclear what caused the fire.
