Horrifying footage shows a five-year-old boy seemingly start to drown at a crowded pool in Helsinki, while other swimmers carry on oblivious to his plight.

Footage posted to Imgur shows the youngster struggling in the water for several minutes before losing consciousness.

User Irongross who posted the video, claims the boy was left unsupervised while his mother spent time in the sauna, although this statement has not as yet been verified.

Thankfully the child was resuscitated after a woman finally noticed his body floating on the surface, and has not suffered any permanent harm.

At the start of the footage, the origins of which are unknown, the boy appears to be trying to get his head above water in the shallow pool but is not quite tall enough.

A man with his child is standing right in front of him, but doesn't seem to notice that he's in difficulty.

After flailing around, he starts trying to get to the side of the pool so he can grip the wall by doing the doggy paddle underwater.

At one point he does a 360 spin just before a woman swims by him, and although she appears to look right at him, she doesn't seem realise he needs help.

The boy appears to be trying to get his head above water in the shallow end of the pool but can't quite manage it

A man standing nearby does not seem to realise that the youngster is in difficulty

Footage shows the youngster trying to doggy paddle his way to the side of the pool underwater

The child desperately tried to get a grip on the side, but just as he manages it the flow of the water pulls him away.

He starts drifting towards another group of people who don't seem to see him under the water, and it's at this point that he's unable to carry on struggling.

His body goes still and starts drifting towards the centre of the pool, still unobserved.

Other swimmers appear not to notice his frantic efforts to reach the side of the pool

The young boy manages to get hold of the side of the pool for just an instant before drifting away again

It was a full minute before anyone noticed the boy floating face down in the water. Thankfully he was plucked out and resuscitated and did not suffer any permanent harm

For an agonising minute, he continues to bob along in the water face down before a woman finally notices and pulls him out.

'He was under water four minutes 36 seconds and was saved when his lifeless corpse floated next to unknown woman,' the poster explained.

'Boy was resuscitated and didn't suffer permanent damage.'

The footage has since been viewed more than 173,000 times on Imgur.