7-month-old slips from fourth-floor balcony, neighbours join hands to rescue her

CHENNAI: After tension-filled moments, a group of residents from an apartment complex in Thirumullaivoyal rose to the occasion on Sunday to save the life of a seven-month-old child who slipped from her mother's shoulder while on the fourth-floor balcony and fell onto the roofing sheet on the first floor.

The entire episode, including the child miraculously hanging on to the roofing sheet, some residents coming to her rescue from the floor below and others quickly gathering their wits to hold a bedsheet to catch her if she fell despite the rescue efforts, was captured on video by a resident from the adjacent block. The two-and-a-half-minute video of the child's rescue went viral on social media.

Eventually, much to the relief of the residents – and the countless people who watched the video online - one of the residents, later identified as Hari, climbed onto the sunshade on the first floor and rescued the child.

After the video of the rescue went viral, there were several comments blaming the parents for what was termed as negligence. However, some of the neighbours who spoke to media persons after the rescue denied the allegation, stating that it was an accident.

"As she was feeding the child, the mother tried to take the mop while holding the child in one arm. The child slipped but fortunately fell onto the roofing sheet, and some of our neighbours acted in time to rescue the child," a neighbour told media persons.

The rescued child was immediately rushed to a hospital and all tests, including scans, were done. The child is out of danger, a senior police officer said.