A group of Singaporean tourists in Iceland saved a driver who was trapped in her car after an accident, in a dramatic rescue filmed and uploaded on Facebook.
The video, posted by Mr Muhammad Syahidin, shows a red Toyota that had overturned on an icy road.
He and three friends had just reached Iceland at midnight on Nov 15. Half a day later, as they were driving out from capital Reykjavik to visit the Gullfoss waterfall, they saw the red car hit a curb and flip over several times.
They immediately stopped to help.
Friend Muhammad Nasir filmed the rescue, and Mr Muhammad Syahidin later posted the 1 min 34 sec clip on his Facebook profile, where he is known as Denda Maradona.
The video shows Mr Muhammad Syahidin, 27, running towards the car, and as he draws close, a woman’s screams are heard.
He tries to open her door, but it is stuck. He opens the rear car door and tries to reach her from the back passenger seat instead.
“Get your seatbelt!” Mr Muhammad Nasir, also 27, can be heard saying urgently in the video.
“Need to switch off the engine,” he is also heard saying later, as he gives his friends instructions in a mixture of English and Malay.
They are seen circling the car and trying all the doors to find a way to get her out.
Mr Salihin Idderos, 27, unbuckled her seatbelt. Another friend, Mr Muhammad Faishal helped to direct traffic.
Soon, others, apparently Icelanders, also stopped to help.
They eventually got the driver’s car door open after a few tries and Mr Muhammad Syahidin pulled her out, he said.
The video ends with the reassuring scene of the rescuers carrying the woman, who was already out of the car.
She was very traumatised, “not really aware of her surroundings” he said.
The four Singaporeans left after making sure she was safe and the Icelanders called the police.
On Facebook, the video of the incident was watched about 4,000 times. A friend also sent the clip to Stomp, and it was uploaded on YouTube, where the video got more than 29,000 views.
An Icelandic website, Stundin, also picked up the video and interviewed the victim, Ms Audur Gisladottir. Ms Gisladottir, who is recovering in hospital, was alerted to the video of the rescue by the reporter from Stundin.
She posted a thank you message on her Facebook in Icelandic late on Tuesday, and said she could not remember what happened as she had lost consciousness.
The four Singaporeans are still in Iceland, hoping to catch the northern lights on their 11-day trip.
This article was first published on Nov 18, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
