An Italian couple was forced to throw their 7-year-old son out of the window in a desperate attempt to save him from a fire, leaving him battling for life, news reports said Saturday.

The incident took place at about 3 am (0100 GMT) in Casella, a town on the outskirts of Genoa, a major port in the north-west of Italy, the ANSA news agency said, quoting the local fire department.

The boy is in critical condition in hospital, with serious head injuries and smoke inhalation symptoms. His parents were also injured as they jumped from a height of about five metres out of their second-floor flat.

The father, Alessio Fraietta, suffered a broken bone, while the mother, Vincenza Sansone, was less seriously hurt as her fall was broken by wires used to hang laundry. Both of them were also hospitalized.

Firemen suspect that the fire was started by a wooden stove. A neighbour, quoted by local newspaper Il Secolo XIX, said it was a cold night, with temperatures just above zero degrees Celsius. Other flats in the building, which was severely damaged, were empty.