Watch: Mother throws 2-yr-old into arms of passersby after rioters set ablaze Durban building

The video of  a mother in a burning building in Durban throwing her child to safety into the arms of passersby has gone viral, according to several media reports. BBC cameraman Thuthuka Zondi filmed Naledi Manyoni approaching the ledge of a high-rise as smoke billowed inside as dozens rushed to a spot below the building. Manyoni then tossed her daughter to safety in the arms of passersby.

[WATCH] Toddler rescued from a fire. Looters started a fire after stealing everything from the shops on the ground floor. They then set fire to the building, affecting apartments upstairs. Neighbours caught the little girl 🥺#ShutdownKZN watch @BBCWorld for more pic.twitter.com/LTMTAa7WAz

— Nomsa Maseko (@nomsa_maseko) July 13, 2021

BBC reported that Manyoni was on the 16th floor when a fire was started by looters at the ground level of the building. She climbed down the stairs as lifts stopped working due to the fire and “managed to squeeze through to a balcony area on the second floor”. “ All I could do was trust complete strangers,” the 26-year-old woman said. Manyoni was among those who were rescued after firefighters arrived at the scene 20 minutes later. After Zuma was jailed last week, riots followed in two of the nine districts in the country, resulting in the deaths of 72 people and the arrest of 1,234. Mass looting, arson and riots were also reported in provincial Durban and Johannesburg. The government says it will deploy some 25,000 soldiers to stem the violence. Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini condemned the looting, adding that, “I never imagined that my father’s people would be involved in the burning of their own country.”