DAYS after video emerged of an African man scaling balconies of a Paris high-rise to save a toddler, a French official has revealed where the little boy’s father was.
Authorities have said the four-year-old’s dad was out grocery shopping and playing Pokemon Go instead of watching his child, and has been charged with “failure to meet parental obligations”.
His mother was not home either as she was visiting a nearby island with family members.
“He took a long time to return home because he had decided to play the smartphone game Pokemon Go when he left the store,” Paris prosecutor François Mollins told local TV stations. “He is devastated because he realises what he did, and the tragic consequences that it could have led to.”
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with Mamoudou Gassama from Mali, at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris.
The ‘Spider-Man’ rescuer, Malian migrant Mamoudou Gassama, has since been honoured by French President Emmanuel Macron, who rewarded him with residence papers.
Mr Gassama, 22, risked his life when he saw the child hanging by his hands from the balcony, with another man grimly trying to hold on from an awkward angle.
It took Mr Gassama just minutes to physically hoist himself from balcony to balcony, securing the toddler and hoisting him to safety.
He was then invited to the Elysee Palace to meet Macron.
“This is an exceptional act,” Macron told Mr Gassama. “We’ll obviously be setting all your papers straight and if you wish it, we will start the process naturalisation so that you can become French.”
The 22-year-old has won praise from Paris’ mayor, Anne Hidalgo, who called him “Spider-Man of the 18th”. The number is a reference to the district of Paris where the rescue took place.
She told local media she had phoned Mr Gassama to thank him.
“Congratulations to Mamoudou Gassama for his act of bravery that saved the life of a child,” the mayor tweeted.
Gassama displays a certificate of courage and dedication signed by Paris Police Prefect Michel Delpuech.
He scaled four storeys of a Parisian apartment building to rescue a child that was on the outside of the balcony railing.Source:Supplied
“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.”
French media reports the child’s parents were not at home at the time of the incident. The father is reportedly being questioned by police for leaving the child unattended. The mother was out of the city.
“I saw all these people shouting, and cars sounding their horns. … I did it because it was a child,” the Le Parisian newspaper quoted Mr Gassama as saying. “I climbed … Thank God I saved him.”
AFP also spoke to Mr Gassama: “I felt afraid when I saved the child … (when) we went into the living room, I started to shake, I could hardly stand up, I had to sit down.”
The Paris fire department praised his rapid response: “Luckily, there was someone who was physically fit and who had the courage to go and get the child.”
Source: News.com
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