Sofiane and his younger brother Soleiman were both discharged from hospital on Wednesday where they, along with 17 other residents of the building in the Villeneuve area of Grenoble, had been treated for smoke inhalation following a fire on Tuesday. 

Dramatic video captured by a passer-by shows the boys appearing at the window of the third-storey apartment.

With black smoke billowing and screams from the street  below, the older boy drops his little brother into the arms of passers-by before making the jump himself.

Several of their rescuers suffered injuries to their arms, wrists and hands, but the boys escaped unscathed. 

'I closed my eyes and jumped'

10-year-old Sofiane has been hailed a hero after having the presence of mind to drop his brother into the waiting arms of the crowd.

“I was in my room watching TV when I saw the smoke coming,” he told Le Parisien newspaper.

After attempting to take refuge in the kitchen, he brought his little brother to the window to breathe.

“People at the bottom of the building were telling me to throw him. I grabbed him by his shirt and let him go.

“I wasn't scared, even though it was high. I closed my eyes and jumped.”

Both brothers are now back in the care of their family. 

Proud father

Sofiane's father Ahmed is proud of his son's courage.

“He's a hero too. He acted with great composure in a difficult situation,” he told French media.

The children had been left home alone while their mother went out with her third child to buy bread after Ahmed had already left for work.

Both parents will be questioned by police. 

Grenoble mayor Éric Piolle hailed the rescue, which he said underscored the city’s “tradition of solidarity and mutual help”.

The cause of the blaze is still unknown.