A group of good Samaritans saved a driver in Minnesota after he crashed and became trapped inside his car as the vehicle burst into flames along I-94 on Thursday.
The crash happened around 6:30 p.m. near Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, when a Honda SUV went off the road and hit a light pole before catching fire, the Minnesota Highway Patrol said.
Kadir Tolla, one of the good Samaritans who ran toward the spurting flames to help, told FOX9 Minneapolis that he was on his way to meet clients when he passed the burning wreck.
“He was awake,” Tolla said of the driver. “He was saying pull me out, pull me out, pull me out.”
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Tolla and several other good Samaritans were unable to open the car doors because they were being blocked by a guardrail. (Kadir Tolla via FOX9 Minneapolis KMSP)
Tolla described how the flames were “smacking us on our face” as he and several others tried to get the man out. The driver’s side doors, however, were blocked by the guardrail and unable to be fully opened.
Video captured by cameras on Tolla’s car shows him grabbing a piece of discarded plastic from the roadway and desperately trying to break the driver’s window without success.
Tolla and the other good Samaritans pulled the driver out of the driver’s side window after a highway worker shattered the glass. (Kadir Tolla via FOX9 Minneapolis KMSP)
As the flames continued to encroach on the trapped driver, a highway worker arrived and shattered the window, allowing the good Samaritans to pull the man out to safety.
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Tolla called the situation the “scariest moment” of his life, telling the station that he’ll never forget what unfolded that day.
The car caught fire after going off the road and striking a light pole, according to authorities. (Kadir Tolla via FOX9 Minneapolis KMSP)
“That could be me one day,” he told FOX9. “What would happen if I was in that situation and my life was in the hands of strangers that I don’t even know.”
The driver did not suffer serious injury, though paramedics transported him to Regions Hospital for a medical evaluation, police said.