Algerian citizen Fawzi Zabaat (L), 17, poses with Syrian toddler Doha Muhammed he caught as she was falling from the second floor at Fatih district in Istanbul on June 27, 2019. (STR / DHA / AFP)
ISTANBUL — A viral video has turned a young man into the hero of the hour in Istanbul after he was seen catching a toddler as she plummeted from a second-floor window.
Fawzi Zabaat, a 17-year-old Algerian, was walking in the working-class district of Fatih when he saw the two-year-old Syrian girl playing near the open window of her apartment last week.
On the video, released this week, he is seen trying to alert those around him, before stepping in to catch her as she hurtles towards the pavement.
The teenager has remained modest, when interviewed on Wednesday by the Dogan news agency, which published the images.
Algerian citizen Fawzi Zabaat (L), 17, poses with Syrian toddler Doha Muhammed he caught as she was falling from the second floor at Fatih district in Istanbul on June 27, 2019. (STR / DHA / AFP)
“I was just walking in the road when I saw the little girl at the window. She fell, and thanks to God, I caught her before she hit the ground,” he said.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel