Nguyễn Ngọc Mạnh heard desperate screams from neighbours alerting people below that the child had climbed over a balcony railing and was clinging on for her life.

Mạnh, 31, climbed onto the corrugated roof a small structure on the ground floor moments before the three-year-old girl lost her grip.

As she plummeted to the ground, Mạnh managed to grab her and pluck the baby to safety.

“I don’t think I’m a hero. Anybody would have done the same,” Mạnh said.

“When it happened I didn’t think much, I just looked at the baby and thought of my daughter at home and rushed to help.

“After that even though knowing she was safe, I was still shaking, then I rushed home to find my daughter. Only when I held her in my hands could I calm down a little, my daughter is the same age as the baby.”

The drama unfolded on Sunday evening at the complex in Thanh Xuân District. A woman living opposite recorded the incident on her cell phone and can be heard desperately screaming for help.

The woman shouted: “Where’s everybody? That’s so dangerous! Anybody down there? Anyone on that side? Run down to the first floor!”

Thankfully her cries were heard by Mạnh who was making a delivery at a nearby apartment building.

Mạnh can be seen on security cameras rushing to climb on to the roof of the lean-to structure directly below. He can then be seen grabbing the child as she hurtles towards him.

On Monday, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc sent a letter praising Mạnh for his bravery.

“I’m moved to know on February 28, 2021, Nguyễn Ngọc Mạnh was so brave and acted so quickly to save a baby that fell from the 13th floor of block 60B at the Nguyễn Huy Tưởng apartment complex in Thanh Xuân Trung Ward, Thanh Xuân District, Hà Nội,” he wrote.

“I praise Nguyễn Ngọc Mạnh for his courageous action and high sense of responsibility.

“I ask the Hà Nội People’s Committee and the Central Committee of Emulation and Commendation to recognise Nguyễn Ngọc Mạnh’s shining example of a noble gesture, kindness and compassion so we will have more people like him in society.”

According to vietnamnews.vn