Lucky save for three-year-old boy falling from sixth-floor balcony in China

This is the moment a three-year-old boy was dramatically saved after falling from the sixth floor of an apartment block in southwest China.

The shocking footage shows the toddler dangling off the edge of a balcony and slipping perilously as he struggles in vain to get himself back up.

Neighbours are seen gathered below and forming a circle with a blanket as the boy clung on for his life.

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With the makeshift safety net stretched out below him, the toddler is seen plunging towards the ground before being swept up in the blanket.

"I looked up and saw a little child was dangling up there, my first reaction was to find something to catch him," said Zhu Yanhui, who works at a local property management company.

"I thought about rushing over there and catch him with my bare hands, but that would not have worked."

The blanket method saved the boy's life and, remarkably, kept him scratch free.

After being assessed in hospital he was found to have avoided a single injury.