SAINT PAUL, Minn. — A group of good Samaritans on a Minnesota interstate are receiving praise for jumping into action Thursday and saving a 71-year-old driver from a fiery death.
Sam Orbovich was driving through rush hour traffic on Interstate 94 in Saint Paul when his Honda SUV struck a light pole and a guardrail, according to ABC News.
As Orbovich sat in the vehicle, shaken by the crash, the SUV burst into flames.
Fellow driver Kadir Tolla spotted the crash and rushed to help alongside several other motorists.
“All I see is there is a man in the car that can’t get out and needs our help,” Tolla told ABC News.
Watch video of the rescue below, courtesy of ABC.
Registered nurse Tessa Sand said she could smell the burning car and feel the heat from the inferno.
“I was trying to figure out, one, how to get him out of the car, so trying to break the guardrail down, pulling the car, trying to see if we could get him out on the passenger side, which was also engulfed in flames,” Sand told the network.
First responders were ultimately able to smash the driver’s side window, allowing the good Samaritans to pull Orbovich to safety. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
In a statement shared with KSTP in Minneapolis, Orbovich recalled that his airbag knocked him unconscious. He came to just as his window was smashed, the longtime attorney said.
Orbovich said he was not surprised to learn of the first responders who braved the flames to help.
“But it is incredibly heroic when people driving down the highway choose to put themselves at risk by running toward the flames to extract a stranger from a burning car that could explode at any moment,” Orbovich said. “My family and I are incredibly grateful for these heroes. I sincerely thank everyone, including Kadir, Tessa (and) those who hammered at my car door amid the flames, and Minnesota’s FIRST Highway Helpers.
“I look forward to thanking them all in person.”
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