This is the terrifying moment a four-year-old girl fell unconscious after her hoodie caught on a climbing frame and tightened around her neck in Russia.

At first nobody noticed when Ksenia Kiryakova was left dangling on the playing apparatus at the nursery school in the city of Zlatoust, west-central Russia.

The coat caught on a metal bar before her weight caused the garment to tighten around her neck, effectively strangling her.   

The child is initially seen on CCTV kicking her legs and trying to draw attention to her plight, but teachers and playground supervisors did not spot the problem. 

Then she lost consciousness from the tightening around her neck.

After about two minutes another child saw her hanging from the apparatus and tried to help.

At this point, a female member of staff finally saw the girl was in trouble and ran to rescue her.

She soon realised the child was unconscious and could not stand in the snow. She tried slapping her face but then in panic carried Ksenia into the nursery school. 

Finally, after being out cold for up to seven minutes, the girl was resuscitated by school staff in a corridor as an ambulance arrived.

The girl is undergoing tests to ensure she did not suffer brain damage due to lack of oxygen.

But her mother Tatiana Kiryakova, 38, claims the nursery school head tried to cover up the alarming incident.

'She told me that my daughter immediately came to her senses,' she said.

'But I got the CCTV footage and it is not like this. I was only told the truth later (by the school staff who brought her round). 'I am terrified… I do not want this happen again.'

She thanked the teacher for rescuing Ksenia 'otherwise I would not see my daughter alive again.'

The unnamed teacher resigned after being reprimanded for failing to spot that the girl had got caught and was being gradually strangled, according to Russian reports.

The mother has had her daughter checked by a neurologist.

Head Irina Kirzhakova said: 'This was an accident… the child is alive and well.'

She did not comment on the claim she had misled the mother over the seriousness of the incident.

However the city's state prosecutor Yevgeny Shumikhin said legal action is being considered against Kirzhakova and the teacher for child neglect.