Fearless neighbor risks his life to save two girls from fire (VIDEO)

A daring seventh-floor rescue by a man clinging to a balcony with his one free hand to save two girls from the burning flat below has been captured on video.

A large fire broke out at an apartment block in the town of Fokino in the Primorsky Region in Russia's Far East on Monday. It spread so quickly that two girls, aged 12 and 3, failed to evacuate in time and found themselves cut off from the exit by flames and suffocating smoke.

They retreated to the small balcony on the sixth floor, but it could only provide temporary shelter. The people in the street saw the children in distress and stretched a blanket underneath. They tried to encourage the girls to jump, insisting they would catch them. But it seemed a risky idea as the height of the sixth floor is around 20 meters.

At that moment, seventh floor resident Aleksey Reznichenko looked out of his window to check out what the noise was about. It was a shocking site, but the 20-year-old amateur athlete, who recently returned from the army, didn’t fumble.

“I wasn’t sacred. I just had no time to think. I saw a lot of smoke. The people in the street were in panic. I knew just one thing – I had two young lives in my hands, being the only one, who could help them,” Aleksey recalled.

Aleksey managed to lean from his balcony and lift the girls to safety. It was a dangerous stunt, which required not only courage, but a lot of strength as well. Reznichenko said that at one point they nearly fell to the ground.

It took 21 rescuers and seven firetrucks to put out the fire. There were no injuries or fatalities, emergencies services said, thanks to Aleksey’s heroics. Users on social media have been urging the authorities reward the man for his selfless act.

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