A Bangladeshi man has been lauded for using boom lift to reach child stranded outside third-storey unit in Singapore.
Das Dipto, 27, arrived for work at Block 244, Hougang Street 22 around 7:35am on Sunday, the landscape maintenance worker did not expect to be involved in "the best job I've done in my life."
He was there to prune trees, but ended up rescuing a child, believed to be six years old, who was stuck on a window ledge barely wide enough for his feet reports The Straits Times.
Dipto, who moved from Bangladesh to work in Singapore eight years ago, told that he was cleaning a boom lift he used for pruning trees when a frantic woman approached him and his colleague - Biswas Jibom, 19.
She pointed to the boy, who was clinging on to laundry poles while on a ledge three storeys high at the neighbouring Block 243.
The woman told them the door to the boy's flat was locked, so Dipto decided the best way to reach him was to use the boom lift - a caged platform at the end of a mobile crane. With Biswas directing him, he steered the machine towards Block 243 and the boy, who was crying.
Made headlines, went viral on social media
In a video shared on WhatsApp and uploaded onto Facebook, passers-by are heard shouting at the child to hold on, especially after he loosens his grip at one point.
Meanwhile, Dipto is seen manoeuvring the platform to be within reach of the stranded boy.
He told that he spoke calmly to the boy in English and explained that he was about to rescue him.
When he was close enough, he reached out with both arms and lifted the boy onto the platform - an act met with cheers.
With one arm firmly around the child and the other controlling the boom lift, he lowered the frightened boy to safety.
Dipto said a man then took the boy away.
Recalling the incident, Dipto said he was so engrossed in saving the boy that he did not notice a small crowd had gathered.
The youngest of five brothers, Dipto said his fourth brother, who like him works for landscaping firm Yong Aik Construction, shared the video with neighbours and friends back in their hometown of Narail in Bangladesh.
Dipto said his mother - whom he spoke to during his daily phone call with her on Tuesday - praised him for doing "a very good job" in rescuing the stranded child.
She was shown the video by a friend in Bangladesh.
Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao on Monday reported that the boy had climbed out of a kitchen window after waking up to discover that he was home alone.
It added that the boy was crying on the ledge as he looked for his mother, and that neighbours who knocked on the third-floor unit's door did not get a response.
Later, the boy's mother, accompanied by the boy, met Dipto in Hougang and thanked him.
Marcus Ang, Dipto's supervisor, said the company plans to reward Dipto and Biswas. He added that the Singapore Civil Defence Force will recognize both workers' act with an award.
"Dipto has been very positive over many different projects, and he has always been a very hard worker," said Ang.
Dipto posted photos of the rescue on his Facebook page on Monday night with the caption: "At a work time I saving one children life in Singapore... at last my life is a good job... I pray for the God I doing the work properly."
Many people thanked Dipto in the comments, praising him for his selflessness.
"So thankful for your kind action. The kid might be in danger if not for you," wrote Facebook user Yong Yun, who called him a hero.