SINGAPORE - A six-year-old boy was rescued from the third-floor ledge of a housing block in Hougang on Sunday morning by a worker using a boom lift.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said on Monday (Jan 4) that it had received a call for assistance at Block 243 Hougang Street 22 at about 7.50am on Sunday.

Its spokesman added that the child was rescued by a worker in a boom lift before SCDF officers arrived at the scene.

The boy, who was assessed by an SCDF paramedic, was not taken to the hospital.

In a video shared on WhatsApp and uploaded to Facebook, the child, dressed in an orange T-shirt and long trousers, is seen standing on the ledge and holding on to a laundry rack.

Voices are heard offscreen reminding the child to hold on to the rack at one point when he loosens his grip.

The child obliges.

A worker can be seen standing on the boom lift's platform as he operates it, manoeuvring the platform so that he is brought within reach of the stranded boy.

When he gets close to the child, the worker reaches out with both arms and lifts the boy into the platform - an act met with cheers.

On Monday, Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao reported that the boy climbed out of a kitchen window after waking up to discover that he was home alone.

It added that the boy was crying on the ledge as he looked for his mother, and that neighbours who knocked on the third-floor unit's door after spotting the boy did not get a response.

Workers interviewed at the scene by Lianhe Wanbao said two workers who usually prune trees were involved in rescuing the boy on Sunday morning, and that even though they were not at the foot of the block when the boy climbed out of the window, they were drawn to the scene by his cries.