Updated - Hero granted French citizenship after meeting President

A man is being hailed as a hero in Paris after he scaled a four-storey building to save a baby boy who was dangling off a balcony.

Mamoudou Gassama, a Malian asylum seeker, lifted himself up the apartment block within mere seconds to rescue the infant on Sunday evening.

His daring rescue was filmed on video by cheering bystanders who watched as Mr Gassama, 22, pulled himself up from one balcony to the next without a thought for his own safety.

French President Macron met Gassama on Monday and handed him a certificate of bravery and a medal. He also announced that Gassama would receive French citizenship.

Mr Gassama later told reporters that he had not really had much time to think of the danger.

“I saw all these people shouting, and cars sounding their horns. I climbed up like that and, thank God, I saved the child,” he said, adding that fear had only kicked in after the rescue.

“We went into the living room, [and] I started to shake, I could hardly stand up, I had to sit down.”

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo praised his bravery and described him as the “Spider-Man of the 18th”, a reference to the Paris district where the rescue happened.