A 19-year-old crane operator has rescued 14 people from a burning building in China by allowing trapped residents to climb on to its platform.

The teenager drove the crane from a nearby construction site to the fire which broke out in a seven-storey block of flats in Fushun city, Liaoning province.

"At the time, the fire and smoke were very, very close to them. My first reaction was to rescue this woman and her child," Lan Junze told state broadcaster CCTV.

One of the residents, Mang Shengjun, said he would have jumped if the crane had not turned up.

Video shows people being lifted to safety in the crane's basket as smoke billows from the windows.


Local media said one person died in the fire on 2 May.