Several Good Samaritans rushed to a blazing car and helped rescue the trapped driver inside in the US state of Minnesota last week. Kadir Tolla, who was among the passersby who turned rescuer, saw a Honda skid off road on I-94 near Snelling Avenue, hit a pole and burst into flames and quickly understood that the driver was trapped inside.
“I saw a car on fire. Then I said somebody is probably in there,” Kadir Tolla was quoted as saying by FOX 9. Later, the Minnesota State Patrol said the driver did not sustain major injuries because Tolla and a few others rushed from their cars to rescue the driver inside following the crash that happened last Thursday on the busy highway.
“That could be me one day. What would happen if I was in that situation and my life was in the hands of strangers that I don’t even know,” Tolla was quoted as saying.
He said that other bystanders also frantically tried to get the driver out as flames started engulfing the vehicle. “He was awake. He was saying pull me out, pull me out, pull me out. We could crack the door a bit and give him a little air,” said Tolla.
The efforts would have turned futile because the car door was blocked by the guardrail while the flames kept inching closer and closer threatening to engulf the trapped driver.
The fiery flames were also slapping the rescuers. “It was actually smacking us on our face but we just jumped back,” said Tolla.
He then grabbed a piece of plastic from the side of the road and tried to break the window but failed. Then another person helped smash the glass and dragged the man out of the car to safety in the nick of time.
“Right when we got him out, the fire started going inside the car from the driver’s side. I’m glad he got out in time. It was just like the scariest moment of my life. This is something that I’ll never forget. I will always remember this,” Tolla told the US-based broadcaster.
He said he realised later that the cameras on his car had captured the entire incident.
Authorities put out a small grass fire caused by the crash and said that the driver was taken to the Regions Hospital for evaluation.
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