22-year-old Mamoudou Gassama, Malian migrant was hailed hero after scaling a building in Paris to save a young child dangling from a balcony.

A trending footage on social media showed Gassama climbing up four floors of the apartment building in just seconds to rescue the child who was hanging precariously from the top of the apartment at about 8pm on Saturday. 

By the time Parisian emergency services arrived at the building on rue Marx Dormoy in the 18th arrondissement of the French capital to help the child suspended in mid-air, Mamoudou had already pulled the child to safety.

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.

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

He said ‘‘when I took him in my arms, I spoke with him and asked: 'Why did you do that?' But he did not answer."

However, judicial sources revealed that the father of the young child is under interrogation by police on suspicion of leaving his child unattended. The mother was not in Paris at the time, it is believed.