Updated June 26, 2017 13:39:02

A girl falling from a ride at a New York theme park has been caught by a crowd in a dramatic rescue.

The 14-year-old was dangling from the chairlift about seven metres in the air for what some witnesses said was several minutes.

It gave people time to gather beneath her.

They then encouraged her to let go so they could catch her.

She dropped into the waiting crowd's hands and was taken to Albany Medical Centre in a stable condition with no serious injuries, the Warren County Sheriff's Office said.

Matthew Howard Sr was just leaving the Six Flags Great Escape Amusement Park with his family when he heard someone screaming.

He looked up to see the girl dangling and her little brother sat next to her in the green two-person pod, crying hysterically and saying he could not hold on to her.

Mr Howard and his daughter were among those who caught the girl when she fell.

"I couldn't let that little girl die," Howard said.

"No-one wants to put himself underneath a body like that, but I couldn't stand by and watch."

It is not clear how the girl came to be dangling from the ride.

Topics: accidents, human-interest, people, united-states

First posted June 26, 2017 13:25:32