A woman in the Philippines is seen throwing her pet Pomeranians over a railing as a fire guts the building where she works and stays. - Photos: Ivy Baya/Facebook
MANILA: A woman in the Philippines is being celebrated as a hero for saving her two fluffy Pomeranians – by throwing them over a third-floor walkway to safety before escaping a fire that was gutting a building.
In a two-minute video that has been shared widely online, the woman - a stay-in worker - can be seen lifting one of her dogs over a railing. She then calmly lobs it onto a group of firefighters and bystanders on the ground waiting to catch it.
Thick, black, acrid smoke and flame could be seen billowing out of the building.
She then lifts a second dog and also throws it onto the crowd.
It cannot be seen in the video, but comments made by people claiming to have been on the scene say both dogs were safely caught.
The incident happened early on Thursday (Dec 10) in Mandaue city, in the central Philippine province of Cebu.
The Manila Bulletin newspaper reported that the fire hit a three-storey building housing a styrofoam manufacturing facility.
The woman and her fellow workers were living at the building’s third floor, it reported.
After lobbing her two dogs, the woman can be seen in the video climbing over the railing and trying to reach a fireman’s ladder, which extends up to only the second floor.
The video clip ended with her hanging by her hands at the railing, and her feet at the ladder’s tip, as a fireman climbs up the ladder to rescue her.
Witnesses said she was rescued, but was treated for minor injuries.
Nearly all of those who commented praised the woman – identified by the Manila Bulletin as Ms Ei Mei Lee Maningo, but named as another person in social media posts – for putting her dogs’ lives ahead of hers.
“Of course, she’s 1,000 per cent truly a hero. Only dog, cat owners will understand!” one fan commented on an Instagram account.
“She is the most beautiful woman in the world,” another said.
Others admired her steady nerves and calmness, even as everything around her was ablaze.
“She is a machine,” one said.
“If she had panicked, she might have inhaled the smoke and fainted,” another commented.
The Animal Kingdom Foundation said on its Facebook page: “She chose love over fear. When the fire broke out, she refused to leave her dogs behind, proving that family isn’t just who we live with, but who we fight for.” - The Straits Times/ANN
