Baby hangs out of burning Bronx building

FIREFIGHTERS scaled a ladder to grab a baby who was dangled out of a fifth-floor window during a Bronx apartment fire.

Vanessa Scott, 18, said she slid her cousin through child safety bars so the baby could breathe.

Firefighters rescued seven-month-old Zaniwah Alexandra, along with nine of her relatives at the Pelham Parkway Houses.

Photos show Zaniwah — one arm up and one down — against a brick wall as her cousin leans through the bars. Black smoke billows around them.

Neighbours looked on in terror as the teenager screamed: “Please catch my baby! I don't want to die!”

She was contemplating letting the baby drop but firefighters persuaded her to wait to let them attempt to rescue the family.

Scott said she feared they would all die and holding the baby outside might be its only chance for survival.

The rescuers scaled the building and revived a two-year-old girl while Scott was treated for smoke inhalation.

The photo was taken by neighbour Maya Tucker before firefighters climbed up to save the child.

Scott said: “I slid the baby through the [child guard] bars. There was just smoke everywhere and flames. I couldn’t get anywhere except for the window,” she said. “You couldn't see anything.”

Zaniwah’s father, Michel Alexandra, survived by jumping from a window.

“I couldn't imagine what was going on in her head,” said one of the rescuing firemen, Keith Lagan, a father of three himself.

“It went well,” said veteran FDNY firefighter Sean O'Donnell. “Many jobs don’t go this well.”