Watch: Mother Throws 2-Year-Old Daughter Off Burning Building

A 2-year-old baby girl survived unharmed after her mother threw her from the first floor of a burning high-rise building in the South African city of Durban. The video of the mother saving her child has gone massively viral on social media.

The incident occurred amidst the ongoing violent protests and riots after South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma was jailed last week.

On Tuesday, July 13, the 26-year-old mother, Naledi Manyoni, was on the sixteenth floor of their apartment building when protestors set the complex on fire.

Manyoni ran down the stairs holding her baby girl, Melokuhle and made her way to a ledge above the street on the first floor. She then tossed the child into the arms of neighbors who were waiting below.

"After throwing her, I held my head in shock, but they caught her," Manyoni told Reuters. "She kept saying, 'Mama you threw me down there.' She was scared."

"What was important was for my daughter to be out of that situation... I couldn't escape alone and leave her behind," the mother said.

BBC cameraman Thuthuka Zondi captured the shocking moments on his camera. Zondi shared an image of the incident on his Twitter.

"Captured one those images that will forever live in my heart. Amongst the chaos there were heroes today, they caught her and she is fine," he captioned the image.

A BBC report confirmed that the mother and daughter are safe and were reunited shortly after the video was captured.

Ex-President Jacob Zuma was jailed after he failed to appear at a corruption inquiry. The imprisonment has triggered a series of violent protests and looting causing widespread unrest across the country.

At least 72 people reportedly died in connection with the protests.

On Monday, one police officer was killed and seven other officers were injured after responding to mass looting at the Sam Ntuli Mall in Katlehong.

The slain officer has been identified as Meshack Mahlangu of the Zonkizizwe precinct.

"The path of violence, of looting and anarchy, leads only to more violence and devastation," President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday. "It leads to more poverty, more unemployment, and more loss of innocent life. This is not who we are as a people."