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The
four-year-old was filmed hanging on for his life outside an apartment on Rue
Marx-Dormoy on Saturday afternoon, having been apparently left home alone while
his father was out shopping
|
●Child seen outside
apartment on Rue Marx-Dormoy while 'father was shopping' ●Neighbour tried to reach
child from adjacent balcony in 18th arrondissement ●Mamoudou Gassama, 22,
then scaled the block in 30 seconds to rescue boy ●He has now met with
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace ●Gassama to be made a
French citizen and will be handed a job in the fire brigade
A Malian
immigrant dubbed Spiderman for scaling four storeys to save a child
dangling from a balcony in Paris will be made a French citizen
after meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron this morning.
 |
Malian
immigrant Mamoudou Gassama (right), dubbed Spiderman for scaling four storeys
to save a child dangling from a balcony in Paris, has met French President
Emmanuel Macron (left) this morning
|
Mamoudou
Gassama, 22, was hailed a hero for single-handedly hauling the
four-year-old to safety after scaling the facade of an apartment block in the
capital's 18th arrondissement.
The
dramatic rescue, which saw Gassama clamber from balcony to balcony and
reaching the child in less than 30 seconds, was captured on video and widely
shared on social media. He has since been compared to the Marvel superhero
Spiderman.
Gassama,
who said he arrived in France a few months ago 'dreaming of building his
life' in the country, was pictured meeting French President Emmanuel Macron at
the Elysee Palace this morning.
Macron
said the migrant will be made a French citizen and will also be offered a place
in the fire brigade.
"All
the (Gassama's) documents will be put in order," Macron told the sporty
22-year-old who has become a national hero, referring to his immigration
status.
In
the meeting, live footage of which was carried on the president's Facebook
page, Macron gave Gassama a medal for bravery.
Without
a thought for his own safety, Gassama took just seconds to reach the child in a
spectacular rescue captured on film and viewed millions of times on social networks.
"I
was not thinking of anything. I went straight up", Gassama, who wore jeans
and a short-sleeved patterned shirt, told Macron, recounting the episode.
"Bravo,"
Macron replied.
"I'm
pleased because it's the first time I've received a trophy like that,"
Gassama, who arrived in France in September 2017 and lives in a hostel for
immigrants, said after receiving his medal.
The
incident took place at around 8pm on Saturday in northern Paris.
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Mamoudou
Gassama (pictured today), 22, was hailed a hero for single-handedly scaling the
facade of an apartment block in the capital's 18th arrondissement, and hauling
the four-year-old to safety. He is pictured this morning displaying a certificate
of courage and dedication signed by Paris Police Prefect Michel Delpuech
|
Film
of the rescue shows Gassama pulling himself up from balcony to balcony with his
bare hands as a man on the fourth floor tries to hold on to the child by
leaning across from a neighbouring balcony.
On
reaching the fourth floor Gassama puts one leg over the balcony before reaching
out with his right arm and grabbing the child. Firefighters arrived at the
scene to find the child had already been rescued.
One
witness told Le Parisien: 'There is a fence and a gap between them... The
neighbour could not afford to lean back to get the child himself.'
The
only injury sustained by the child was a torn nail. Gassama suffered a few
scratches. An investigation into the incident is now
underway.
'Luckily,
there was someone who was physically fit and who had the courage to go and get
the child,' a fire service spokesman told AFP.
Paris
mayor Anne Hidalgo praised the young migrant on Twitter for his 'act of
bravery' as well as phoning him personally to 'thank him warmly'.
'He
explained to me that he had arrived from Mali a few months ago dreaming of
building his life here.
'I
told him that his heroic act is an example to all citizens and that the city of
Paris will obviously be very keen to support him in his efforts to settle in
France,' she added.
Tracked
down by reporters 24 hours after the heroic rescue, Gassama said he had acted
without thinking.
'I
saw all these people shouting, and cars sounding their horns. I climbed up like
that and, thank God, I saved the child,' he said.
'I
felt afraid when I saved the child... (when) we went into the living room, I
started to shake, I could hardly stand up, I had to sit down,' he added.
According
to initial inquiries by the authorities, the child's parents were not at home
at the time.
The
father was later held for questioning by police for having left his child
unattended and was due in court later, a judicial source said. The child's
mother was not in Paris at the time.
Gassama's
story instantly drew comparisons with that of another Malian migrant who was
feted as a hero, and given citizenship, for helping save lives during a January
2015 terror attack.
Lassana Bathily helped hide
hostages in the freezer during an Islamist jihadi attack on a Jewish
supermarket, in which four people were killed.
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