Dramatic video of Georgia firefighter 'catching babies like football' during apartment blaze goes viral

A dramatic footage has emerged showing a Georgia firefighter catching a child dropped from the third-floor balcony by a parent during an apartment fire.

In the video, which was released by the firefighters' union in DeKalb County, Captain Scott Stroup can be seen catching the child thrown by Lance Ragland who was climbing down a ladder. Ragland and his family were trapped in the apartment.

The fire had taken place in Decatur, Georgia at the Avondale Forest Apartments on 3 January and the incident was captured on another firefighter's helmet camera.

The video clip showed Captain Stroup carrying the kid away from the flames to safety and then collapsing onto his knees.

The footage has garnered around 1,40,000 views. It has been shared more than 2,000 times.

Ragland got his entire family of 12 including eight children out of the burning home into the hands of the firefighters, ABC 7 News reported.

According to the CBS News, Captain Stroup wasn't the only firefighter who was saving the children from the blaze.

"We were catching babies like a football - literally," fire Captain Eric Jackson told the reporters at the scene.

"There were adults that were on the balcony that were dropping their babies' right into our arms. We had a couple firefighters catching babies, so it was just really incredible."

Captain Jackie Peckrul who was also involved in catching the babies told Fox 5 that she just kept thinking "Lord, let me catch this baby," as parents kept throwing their blanket-wrapped infant toward her.

According to CBS 46, at least 12 people including eight children were injured, mostly related to smoke inhalation. No deaths were reported.

About 80 people were displaced and were taken to safety, WXIA reported.

In a similar fire incident in June 2017, a baby who was dropped by a woman from a window "on the ninth or tenth floor" of Grenfell Tower, London miraculously escaped serious harm. According to eyewitnesses, a man in the crowd is said to have run towards the baby who was thrown by the woman and caught the youngster. How the unidentified woman fared remains unknown.

You can watch the video here: (Warning: some may find the content disturbing. Viewer discretion advised)