Dashboard camera video revealed the moment good Samaritans rushed to the aid of a man whose car had burst into flames on a Minnesota highway, bringing him to safety seconds before certain death.
Thursday, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
The video captures the harrowing rescue of the driver, an elderly man, as several other motorists abandoned their vehicles on the side of the highway.
Kadir Tolla was one of them. He was headed to work in St. Paul when he came upon the car on fire moments after the collision, and suspected the driver was trapped inside.
‘It was like the scariest moment of my life. This is something I will never forget. “I will always remember this,” Tolla said. FOX9.
Dashboard camera video captured the moment Good Samaritans pulled a driver from his burning car on a Minnesota highway.
The Honda went off the road on I-94, hit a utility pole and caught fire Thursday night, according to state officials.
A group of passersby ran towards the car and tried to break the windows as the flames grew.
Dash camera footage shows Tolla, dressed in a gray shirt and white sneakers, joining several other witnesses as they attempted to open the doors.
Tolla put his foot against the railing as he pulled on the back door. When that attempt failed, he ran out and retrieved a piece of plastic from the side of the road, planning to use it to break the window.
However, their attempts failed. Moments later, a Minnesota Department of Transportation truck pulled up and a state official entered the fray.
The flames exploded, forcing the crowd to jump back, and some bystanders fell to the pavement.
As tension escalated, the Department of Transportation worker broke the glass before the group pulled the man out the window.
They carried him to safety in their arms, moments before flames engulfed the driver’s side.
Miraculously, the driver did not suffer serious injuries, according to state officials. He was taken to Regions Hospital for evaluation.
The accident also caused a grass fire that firefighters quickly extinguished.
One man, Kadir Tolla, grabbed a piece of plastic from the side of the road and tried to break the driver’s side window.
A Minnesota Department of Transportation official arrived and broke the window, allowing good Samaritans to get the driver to safety.
The man, seen on video held in his arms, escaped without serious injuries but was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
Tolla described the rescue as ‘the scariest moment of my life’ and thanked God for the group’s survival on Facebook.
The scene mirrored an accident on the Long Island Expressway in January 2023, when a group of bystanders rushed to help a woman trapped inside a burning car.
‘That could be me someday. What if I was in that situation and my life was in the hands of strangers I don’t even know?’ Tolla said.
On Facebook, he thanked God for allowing everyone to come out alive.
The video reflects a scene from last January, when a car was set on fire on the Long Island Expressway.
Susan Kaiser-Denise, 56, was heading down the highway when her Jeep Liberty hit a center median and rolled onto its side, catching fire.
Witnesses sprang into action, stopping their own cars in the middle of the busy highway to help.
The woman was on fire inside the car, authorities said.
The video shows the woman’s clothes burning as she lies on the ground after being removed from the vehicle. She was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
Despite the grim scene, Kaiser-Denise survived, according to a GoFundMe campaign.
She underwent skin grafts and a tracheotomy before being transferred to another hospital to undergo weeks of intensive physiotherapy.