Frantic residents outside a home in Nanyang, China.

Above them, a five-year-old boy dangles dangerously from the window - his head the only thing keeping him from a four-storey drop.

Rescuers and neighbours set up a bed sheet to try to catch the boy as another team of firefighters broke down the apartment door.

Finally, he is freed from the railings and brought to safety.

The boy told China's state TV that he climbed up the window cage to look for his mother, who had locked him inside the house alone.