Mali 'spiderman' to be made French citizen following heroic act

A Malian migrant hailed as a hero after mounting a daring rescue to save a small boy dangling from a balcony in Paris is to be made a French citizen.

Mamoudou Gassama won widespread praise after climbing the outside of the building to save the four-year-old.

Video showed him being cheered on by spectators as pulled himself from balcony to balcony to the fourth floor.

After meeting him at the Elysee Palace, President Emmanuel Macron said he would be made a naturalised citizen.

He personally thanked Mr Gassama, gave him a medal for courage and said he would also be offered a role in the fire service.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also praised the 22-year-old's heroism and said she had called him to thank him.

She referred to him as the "Spiderman of the 18th", referring to the Paris district where the rescue took place.

"Congratulations to Mamoudou Gassama for his act of bravery that saved the life of a child," Ms Hidalgo tweeted.

"He explained to me that he had arrived from Mali a few months ago dreaming of building his life here.

"I replied that his heroic gesture was an example for all citizens and that the City of Paris will obviously be keen to support him in his efforts to settle in France."

The drama was captured in a video posted on Facebook on Saturday evening on a street in the north of the city.

Mr Gassama told journalists he had been walking past when he saw a crowd gathered in front of the building.

"I did it because it was a child," Le Parisien newspaper quoted him saying. "I climbed... Thank God I saved him."

The Parisian fire service said crews had arrived to find the child had already been rescued.

"Luckily, there was someone who was physically fit and who had the courage to go and get the child," a spokesman told AFP news agency.

Local authorities quoted by French media said the child's parents were not at home at the time.

The father has been questioned by police on suspicion of leaving his child unattended, judicial sources say. The mother was not in Paris at the time, it is believed.