THIS is the horrifying moment a tiny toddler plummets from a third-floor balcony after his dad left him home alone to go and buy cigarettes.

Heart-stopping footage shows the two-year-old boy dangling helplessly from the balcony.

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The two-year-old dangles from a third-floor balconyCredit: Newsflash
 

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He can’t keep clinging on and plummets towards the groundCredit: Newsflash
For a few seconds the tot can be seen clinging on – terrified residents in Bogota, Colombia, can be heard gasping and shouting as his grip begins to falter.

Then the boy suddenly loses his grip on the narrow ledge and plunges to the ground.

Miraculously, the crowd of quick-thinking onlookers had worked together to form a makeshift safety net.

They had spotted the boy teetering on the edge of the balcony and got into position to catch the tiny tot before he fell.

Locals rushed to the scene with blankets, jackets and thick clothing, which they successfully used to break the tiny tot’s fall.

After the dramatic rescue the toddler was taken to hospital for checks.

Police said he had not suffered any serious injuries.

The boy’s dad told local reporters he had briefly left the toddler home alone while he went to buy cigarettes with his brother.

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A crowd of quick-thinking locals prepare to catch the boyCredit: Newsflash
 

A two-year-old boy falling from a building, caught by a crowd of people.
Locals catch the boyCredit: Newsflash/NX
He said: “I went out for a moment with my brother to buy some cigarettes.

The father added: “We wanted to smoke them outside so we would not fill the apartment with smoke because there is a small child there.

“When we came back from the shop, the child was already on the balcony and everything had happened.”

The local who first spotted the two-year-old said he had been buying something nearby when he saw the boy’s head and arm appearing over the edge.

He said: “What I imagined was that a child should not be there alone and should be with someone.

“I started talking to him, he started turning around and he was left holding on only with his arms.”

The boy’s dad added: “The child has no fractures, he is in good condition, and now we have to wait for the follow-up that the ICBF has to carry out.”

Colombian social services will investigate the incident.

Bogota Metropolitan Police officer Javier Cardenas said: “A two-year-old child fell from the third floor of a home after being suspended for several seconds from the balcony.

“The community managed to catch the child before he hit the ground.

“He was taken to a medical centre and, according to the report, he did not present any serious injury.”