An elderly man was hailed a hero after he saved a three-year-old boy from drowning in a pond when the toddler accidentally fell in.

CCTV footage shows the little boy walking over to his older sister as the two play by a murky pond in Yichun, in south-eastern China's Jiangxi Province on August 30.

In the video, the girl - wearing a pink tracksuit - is seen suddenly stopping by the edge of the stagnant water, looking over its surface.

But her three-year-old brother who rushes over apparently mistakes the pond's still and dark surface for a pavement and walks straight into the water.

He falls into the deep basin and begins to drown as he struggles to stay afloat. His sister immediately runs around screaming for help and begins crying out of desperation.

Then, an elderly man - later identified as 69-year-old Leng Guofa - jumps in after the boy and pulls him out to safety, preventing a major tragedy.

Leng is then seen trying to get the seemingly unharmed boy to stand up before the footage cuts.