Heart-stopping moment four-year-old girl is caught in mid-air by neighbours with a duvet after the child fell out of a three-storey window while home alone

• Footage shows the child dangling from the three-storey flat's window in China
• Neighbours rushed to the girl's rescue after hearing the youngster screaming
• She plunged toward the ground after losing her strength to hold onto the ledge
• The girl was unhurt after she was caught in mid-air by the residents with a duvet

A young girl has been saved by a group of heroic neighbours after she fell out of a three-storey flat while being left at home alone in China.

The four-year-old was spotted dangling from the window about 30 feet above the ground after she climbed out of her grandparents’ home in Ji’an, eastern Chinese province Jiangxi.

A dozen local residents rushed to the child’s rescue as they caught the falling little girl in mid-air with a duvet.

The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon after the young girl was locked at home alone by her grandparents who left to tend the family’s shop, reported local media.

The child’s parents were both migrant workers who had been away in another city.

While the girl was playing by herself at home, she accidentally climbed out of the three-storey flat’s window as she tried to look for her family.

Media reports did not specify the building’s height but a typical three-storey flat in China is about 9 metres (30 feet) high.

The young child was left dangling by the window sill when a neighbour suddenly spotted her and called for help.

The resident later told reporters that he had heard the girl screaming and crying as he was taking the rubbish outside.

Heart-stopping footage shows the little girl holding onto the window ledge as a group of residents standing in a circle while holding the covers.

The child appeared to have lost all of her strength as she suddenly let go and slid down from the building’s exterior.

She is seen initially landing on a roof extension on the second floor before losing balance and falling backwards.

As the little girl plunging toward the ground, the group of neighbours raised the duvet together and caught her in mid-air.

The youngster survived unscathed, a local official confirmed to reporters. Her grandfather is planning to install security grilles around their flat’s window to prevent such incidents from happening again.

Tens of thousands of social media users praised the neighbours as heroes after the footage was widely shared online.

One commenter wrote: 'My heart was pounding. She was caught safely at last. Thanks to all the kind and courageous neighbours!'

Another one said: 'What a terrifying scene! Thank god they caught her.

Last month, another trending clip captures the moment a Chinese mother dropped her five-year-old son from their three-storey flat after they were trapped in a blazing building.

The young boy was caught by a group of neighbours with bed sheets. His mother was also saved after she climbed down to the second floor through a pipe and jumped onto the covers, reports said.