Incredible moment hero caretaker saves four babies from apartment fire in Paris

Incredible footage shows a heroic school caretaker help rescue babies from the sixth floor of a burning apartment building.

Fousseynou Cissé, 39, admitted he "didn't think twice" about the danger after black smoke engulfed the apartment. He leapt into action, and stood on a ledge outside the home in Paris to help save the infants.

Footage broadcast on French news channels shows Mr Cissé balance on the ledge, and signal to those trapped inside to pass their children over to him. The caretaker, who had just finished work at a school, first takes hold of a five-month old baby and passes the infant to a man in the next apartment, before doing the same with a one-year-old child. Once they are out of danger, he helps an adolescent and adults out of the burning flat, guiding them to safety and ensuring that they do not fall to the ground.

And Mr Cissé has been lauded for his bravery, with social media users leaving wholesome comments underneath the video. When translated from French, one post reads: "Thank you to this gentleman. What a positive thing in this crazy world." Another reads: "Not everyone has such courage."

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In all, the hero rescued four children and two adults from the burning building in the northern end of Paris. Mr Cissé told Le Parisien, a French newspaper: "Given the amount of smoke, they and their children could have suffocated. Their last hope was to throw themselves out the window otherwise. I didn't ask myself the question. Their lives were in danger. I didn't think twice."

Mr Cissé was lying on the sofa after work when he smelled the smoke from the adjacent building. After telling his wife to escape with their own two-year-old child, he climbed onto the ledge to save his neighbours. To anchor himself, the dad said he kept his legs astride between the two apartment blocks. He also credited his long arm span of more than four feet for helping him to pull off the rescue.

Naomi, one of the rescued mothers, said: "I thought I was going to die with my children." Ten residents of the building were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, local media reported. Among further social media comments, one post reads: "This gentleman should be awarded a medal for his bravery and selflessness. What courage! Thank you to him. This family owes him their lives."

Rémi Féraud, a senator, wrote: "Impressive courage that saved lives. Fousseynou Cissé is a hero who deserves our admiration and the recognition of Paris." According to BFMTV, a French TV channel, Mr Cissé will be recognised for his act of courage by the interior minister.