Rescuers Form Human Chain to Save Toddler From Lake

A group of courageous passersby in China have saved a family of three from a frozen lake by forming a human chain.

The three survivors, a mother and her two children, had fallen through thin ice and were struggling in bone-chilling water when onlookers quickly reacted.

Footage emerged online showing the 20-metre-long (66 ft) human chain formed by rescuers as they tried to save one of the children. The boy was quickly saved and found to have no injuries.

According to The Beijing News, the incident took place on a lake at the Caoxueqin Park in Tangshan, Hebei Province, on January 7.

It took the onlookers about three minutes to save a woman, a girl and a boy, a witness told Hebei News.

The same witness said the three people are a family and the woman is the mother of the two children. The children were said to be three or four years old.

About 17 men and women can be seen holding each other's hands as they tried to pull up the family.

The rescuers are said to have grabbed wooden sticks and dog leash to hand to the mother, who was hugging her daughter in freezing water.

All three people were said to be in stable condition.