Hong Kong - A brother and sister nicknamed "Spiderkids" after climbing down drainpipes from their 34th floor high-rise home in Hong Kong were Monday put into a care home by a court.

The girl aged eight and her six-year-old brother clambered down drainpipes from a bathroom window in their apartment on Saturday morning when their mother was asleep.

Unable to get out of the flat because the doors were locked and wanting to go outside to play, they were seen scaling the outside of the building by horrified neighbors.

The girl was eventually pulled to safety by residents inside a 28th floor flat while the boy managed to get three floors lower down before being persuaded to go inside an apartment.

The children's mother was arrested on suspicion of child neglect and both children were taken to hospital where they were treated for minor scratches.

At a special hearing in Hong Kong's Tuen Mun court Monday, a magistrate placed the siblings in care after being told there was a risk they might try to climb out of the flat again if allowed home.

The hearing against the mother was adjourned until next month pending the preparation of a report by a social welfare officer into the children's family circumstances.

The incident happened in Tin Shui Wai district, an area labelled the "City of Misery" by Hong Kong's director of social welfare Carrie Lam after a series of family tragedies.

The tragedies included two high-profile cases in which fathers killed their wives and children before committing suicide, prompting calls for more social services resources for the relatively poor area. (dpa)