Scene of the incident. Liu Xinfa
Suspected driver mistook accelerator for brake, causing a car with three people to plunge into a river.
At around 7:40 AM yesterday morning, in the Pingyuan neighborhood of Humen, a pregnant woman was driving a small sedan carrying her three-year-old daughter and her mother-in-law. When she arrived at the gate of the neighborhood, it is suspected that she mistakenly stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake, causing the vehicle to rush onto the sidewalk, break through a concrete steel pipe guardrail, and flip into a smelly water ditch more than 3 meters deep. Liu Xinfa, a 46-year-old man from Henan Province, disregarded the danger and jumped into the dirty river to successfully rescue the little girl, the elderly woman, and the pregnant woman inside the car.
Written and photographed by reporter Liu Manyuan
Replay of the scene
The small sedan plunged into a 3-meter-deep smelly water ditch.
Yesterday morning, I saw at the scene of the incident that a large crane was lifting a white off-road sedan out of a 3-meter-deep dirty water ditch. Multiple security personnel and police officers were directing the scene.
Next to the crane, there was a section of about 10 meters long concrete steel pipe railing that had been broken. Additionally, the accident vehicle that was lifted up showed obvious damage to the front bumper. I also noticed that the automatic retractable steel door at Gate No. 3 of the Pingyuan neighborhood had been broken.
According to an eyewitness, at the time of the incident, the female driver was carrying her daughter and mother-in-law to the gate and handed over a card to enter the neighborhood to the security guard at the gate. But the female driver seemed to have suddenly remembered something she forgot to do, so she wanted to wait at the entrance.
Since there were many vehicles passing through the gate during this time, the security guard asked the female driver to drive behind the gate and park to avoid blocking the way. Then, the female driver backed her car into a roadblock behind Gate No. 3 of the neighborhood and parked. However, shortly after, the car suddenly started and quickly rushed forward, colliding with the steel gate of the gate. Upon seeing the collision with the steel gate, the female driver seemed to panic and mistakenly stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake. The car broke through the steel gate, rushed out of the gate, ran onto the sidewalk, and then made a "crash" sound as it broke through the concrete steel pipe railing by the river and flipped into the smelly water ditch. Immediately, cries and calls for help from children and elders could be heard from inside the car.
After the small sedan flipped into the smelly river, the security guards at the gate immediately called 110 and 120 to report the incident and ask for help. However, the onlookers did not immediately jump into the river to save them.
A man jumps into the smelly river and saves three people in 15 minutes.
At a critical moment, a middle-aged man on the opposite bank immediately came to the edge of the smelly river, without taking off his clothes or removing items from his body, he climbed over the railing by the river and jumped into the river.
Subsequently, he first rescued the loudly crying little girl from the back windshield of the car, carried her to the shore, and handed her to the kind-hearted people on the shore with both hands. Then, he went down into the smelly river again and rescued the grandmother of the girl and helped her ashore.
Then, he went down into the smelly river once more and rescued the trapped female driver of the sedan. This female driver was a pregnant woman. In about 15 minutes, the man successfully saved all three people.
After the man successfully rescued the three people trapped in the car, he left without saying anything. His actions earned praise from the citizens: "He's truly a brave man."
All three rescued individuals are in good condition.
At around 9:00 AM yesterday, the sedan was transported away. From Humen Taiping People's Hospital, we learned that the three people trapped in the car, including the elder, child, and driver, were all in good health with no major injuries; they were just frightened. The child had a slight injury to their mouth in the accident, but it wasn't serious; they just needed some medicine and to pay attention to oral hygiene.
Dialogue:
"Seeing that all three people in the car were unharmed, I felt really happy! Doing a good deed is what should be done, it's fine!"
In the morning, I found this brave middle-aged man at a freight company. He has a tall build, wearing a set of sportswear, with a sunny face.
This rescuer is named Liu Xinfa, from Leiyang City, Henan Province. Three days ago, he came to Humen to visit his daughter and son-in-law who run a company here.
Man visiting relatives in Dongguan: "Rescuing people is what should be done!"
Reporter: The river is so far from the ground! You didn’t know how deep the water was, weren’t you afraid to jump?
Liu Xinfa: Hearing the child’s cries for help, I couldn’t think about it anymore! Saving lives was important! But now when I look back, it was indeed a bit scary because after jumping into the dirty river, the water reached my stomach, and the bottom of the dirty river had deep mud which got my feet stuck. It took a lot of effort to approach the car that was upside down.
Reporter: What did you see inside the car at that moment?
Liu Xinfa: There were three people in the back of the car: a little girl, a forty or fifty-year-old elder, and a young female driver. Since the dirty river water had already flooded into the car, the little girl and the elder were soaked in the dirty black water. The little girl was crying loudly, while the elder beside her was still in a state of panic, not knowing what to do. The female driver seemed to be trapped in the driver's seat, pale-faced, and also panicked. When they saw me, they seemed to see hope.
Reporter: After rescuing everyone in the car, how did you feel?
Liu Xinfa: Honestly, there was nothing particularly special. Just seeing that all three people in the car were unharmed made me feel quite happy! Doing a good deed is what should be done, it’s fine...
Reporter: You saved three generations of a family, you're truly brave!
Liu Xinfa: Nothing special! Rescuing people is what should be done! Should be done!...