In the many battles with the inferno at Kolkata's Stephen Building on Monday afternoon, Mohammad Zulfikar Ali's stands out.

The 24-year-old carpenter was working at a building just meters away when the fire erupted. (Read: Court stops demolition of Stephen Court )

He rushed to the rear of the building and climbed a pipe to the fifth floor.

''I saw this woman crying for help. I knew I had to help her. I put her over my back and brought her to the window. I tied her to me with a rope and climbed down,'' says Zulfikar Ali. (Read:  Chaos over whose bodies are these? )

Zulfikar was not done yet. He climbed back in and rescued two more boys. (Read: Buddha blames civic body)

''Why should I feel scared? It was my duty as a human being. I don't know if others would do it, but I felt compelled to act,'' he adds.

Zulfikar timely intervention certainly helped keep down the death toll at the Stephen Court building.