Firefighter saves boy trapped on river embankment

Toronto firefighters used ropes and harnesses to rescue a boy who fell down the embankment of the Humber River in Toronto's west end on Thursday.

A harnessed firefighter hung from a rope holding on to a boy who was stuck nine metres down a steep embankment and unable to move for about 30 minutes. A second firefighter climbed down and took the boy, then brought him to safety at the top of the embankment.

Toronto Fire said the boy is 11 years old, and got stuck when he climbed over a fence to chase after a ball, then started sliding down the embankment.

The boy was trapped on an embankment off Scarlett Road near Eglinton Avenue West.

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  Toronto firefighters used ropes and harnesses to rescue a boy who fell down the embankment of the Humber River in Toronto, Thursday, July 31, 2014.

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  A mother embraces her 11-year-old boy after he was rescued from a steep embankment from the Humber River, Thursday, July 31, 2014.