Sharjah Police honour two high-rise heroes who saved young boy

Workers saved five-year-old boy from a 13th-floor tower ledge in the emirate

An image of Farouq Mohammad, 5, dangling from the window of the Sharjah residential tower he lives in. Photo: Supplied

Mohammed Rahmatullah, from Nepal, leapt into action after he saw Farouq dangling from the window. Photo: Salam Al Amir / The National

Farouq Mohammad, 5, from Syria, was rescued after hanging from the 13th floor apartment window. Photo: Salam Al Amir / The National

Exterior of the building in Sharjah where the incident happened. Photo: Salam Al Amir / The National

Farouq safe at home on Wednesday. Photo: Salam Al Amir / The National

Sharjah Police on Thursday honoured the two men who helped save a young boy they found dangling from a window of a high-rise building in the emirate.

Mohammed Rahmatullah, a father of two from Nepal, and Adel Abdul Hafeez were invited to a reception hosted by Sharjah Police to thank them for their role in saving Farouq Mohammad, 5, who was clinging to a window ledge on the 13th floor of a building in Sharjah on Tuesday morning.

They alerted emergency services and asked nearby workers to stand at the bottom of the building with a blanket to catch the boy if he fell.

Mr Rahmatullah and Mr Hafeez broke open the door of the apartment and managed to grab the boy’s arm and pull him up to safety.

"The honour came in appreciation of their magnanimity, their sense of security, and their heroic role in successfully dealing with the prevention of the fall of a child from a building in the emirate," Sharjah Police said in its release on Thursday.

Maj Gen Saif Al Shamsi, commander-in-chief of Sharjah Police, praised the men's good behaviour and their prompt response and said the force is always keen to honour those who enhance security and safety in the emirate.

The men were presented with a certificate marking their good deed and a new mobile phone each.

Speaking to The National on Thursday, Mr Rahmatullah said while he has been overwhelmed by the positive reaction to the story, he is thankful that it had a happy ending.

"The chief of Sharjah Police was very kind and told us how he appreciates what we did," he said.

"Everybody has been thanking me since the news circulated but as a father of three ― two boys and a girl ― the source of my happiness is that this boy is safe and his family is not heartbroken.

"It’s not about the reward ― I can buy a mobile phone ― but the appreciation and the fact that the boy is safe is the reward that will live with me for ever."

Brig Ibrahim Al-Ajeel, deputy director general of police operations and Col Yousef bin Harmoul, director of the comprehensive police stations department also attended the reception.