Kochi: The heroic act of a National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) personnel, who dashed across a sinking bridge carrying a child in his arms, has grabbed national attention after the video went viral.

On Friday, when the fifth shutter of the Idukki dam was opened, Kanhaiya Kumar, an NDRF rescue operation officer who hails from Bihar, risked his life as he crossed the Cheruthoni Bridge to rescue a child seconds before the bridge went under water.

In the visuals captured by News18 Kerala’s Kannan Prasannan, Kanhaiya is seen sprinting from one end of the bridge to the other to save the child as waves swept the bridge later.

“I was helping people evacuate from the vicinity of Cheruthoni Bridge, and then I noticed a man with a kid in his hands yelling from the other side of the river for help. In no time, I helped the kid and two others to safety and get primary medical aid,” Kanhaiya Kumar told News18.

Kanhaiya received a wireless message to take the child suffering from high fever to the nearest hospital. Wasting no time, he scurried across the bridge while holding the child in his arms.

“I realised that I can help by taking the child to nearest hospital in a safer place for first-aid and I did exactly that,” Kanhaiya told ANI.

#WATCH: NDRF Rescue officer Kanhaiya Kumar, on a video of him running through flooded bridge in Kerala's Idukki with a child close to his chest going viral, says, "I realised that I can help by taking the child to nearest hospital in a safer place for 1st-aid& I did exactly that" pic.twitter.com/WvKrv6owao — ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2018

Kerala public works minister G. Sudhakaran hailed his valour via a post on Facebook that read, “I congratulate the man who saved the kid, the cameraman Kannan Prasannan and News18 who let the world know about the humanitarian act.”

At least 37 people have died so far in Kerala and several thousands have been rendered homeless as heavy rains wreaked havoc in the last four days across the state. People in different parts of Kerala have been shifted to relief camps after rainwater entered their houses.