Two Brothers Rescued From Grenoble Apartment Fire After Leaping Into Crowd

France: Two young brothers were rescued from a raging apartment fire in the French city of Grenoble after jumping nearly 10 metres (33 feet) from a window and being safely caught by residents gathered on the street below, French media reported.

The dramatic incident occurred on Tuesday, when flames and thick black smoke engulfed an upper-floor apartment. The brothers, aged 10 and three, were forced to escape through a window as the fire spread rapidly. Video footage circulating on social media shows the younger child being carefully lowered and released from at least three storeys high, moments before the older boy followed, dropping into the outstretched arms of people below amid frantic screams from onlookers.

Remarkably, the children escaped without serious injuries, though they were hospitalised for observation, particularly for possible smoke inhalation. Seventeen other residents of the building were also taken to hospital, according to media reports. Four of the bystanders who helped catch the boys were likewise admitted for medical checks after sustaining minor injuries during the rescue.

Two boys—ages 10 and 3–jumped 30 feet from a burning building in Grenoble, France. Two of the six adults who caught them broke their arms.

Amazing heroism.pic.twitter.com/78prmyr6F1

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 29, 2026

Among them was Athoumani Walid, a 25-year-old student who suffered a broken wrist. Speaking to the Associated Press, Walid said he rushed to the scene after hearing screams and spotting the fire from his nearby apartment. “We didn’t know what to do. We wanted to break the door, but it wasn’t possible,” he said. The group then positioned themselves below and urged the boys to jump. “At first, there was fear. But when they jumped, the fear disappeared. What mattered was catching them,” he added.

Walid expressed hope that the rescue would challenge stereotypes about Grenoble’s Villeneuve neighbourhood, an area with a large immigrant population. “It’s often called a ‘sensitive’ neighbourhood,” he said, “but we showed that we are here for each other and that we save each other.”

Grenoble Mayor Éric Piolle praised the residents for their courage, describing the rescue as a powerful example of the city’s “tradition of solidarity and mutual help.”

The incident recalled a widely publicised rescue in Paris in 2018, when Mamoudou Gassama, a young man from Mali, climbed four storeys of a building in seconds to save a child hanging from a balcony. Gassama was later offered French citizenship in recognition of his bravery.