Mum in China throws baby out of burning flat's window in desperate bid to save child
To rescue her child from a burning flat, a woman in China was forced to throw her 40-day-old infant out of the window.
The video taken in Wenzhou, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, has gone viral with over 100 million views on Weibo and 10 million on Douyin, South China Morning Post reported on Monday(July 10).
From the video posted, the mother can be seen standing with her baby with another woman at the window of her third-storey flat with thick smoke billowing from the building.
The mother can also be heard crying out in distress: "Please save my baby!"
Below the building, anxious neighbours, shop owners and even passers-by can be seen standing in position to catch the infant in an outstretched quilt, SCMP reported.
The mother then threw her infant out of the window.
Thankfully, the baby was caught safely in the makeshift net. The child's mother and the other woman was later rescued by firefighters who arrived minutes later, reported video news outlet Daxiang News.
"When I recalled the mother throwing down her baby, it still horrified me," one neighbour said. "The smoke was too dense. They couldn't find any way to leave."
Both mother and child were later taken to a hospital.
Many netizens were sympathetic towards the mother's dilemma and her desperate move to throw her baby out of the window.
"How helpless she must have felt when she let go of her baby," one person wrote.
However, some criticised the mother's decision to throw her child over the building.
"The mother's action was too risky!" one commenter said. "What if the baby was not caught? Why not use a basket to hold the baby and a long rope to lower the basket?"
In response to the negative comments, one user said the infant would have "definitely died" from smoke inhalation and added that the mother's decision was correct.
"She is the baby's mother. She loves her baby more than any of you. If there was another choice, would she have done what she did?" another said.
Many were also happy to see good Samaritans offering help to the mother.
"It's good that all people came to offer their help. The scene warmed my heart," another said.
ALSO READ: Good Samaritan helps evacuate residents in Hougang flat fire, gets taken to hospital
ashwini.balan@asiaone.com
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