Drivers trapped in burning cars saved by cabbie
TWO trapped motorists were saved by a taxi driver from fires which threatened to engulf both cars following a head on smash in Rotherham, it has emerged.
The crash happened on Pleasley Road and - while the cause of the collision remains unclear – it resulted in two vehicles colliding head-on.
Both cars, a BMW and a Saab, were substantially damaged by the impact and was witnessed by a Swallownest taxi driver, who was travelling on the same stretch of road.
He leapt into action and was able to use a fire extinguisher from his mini-bus – used for ‘school run’ trips with pupils – to help save the drivers.
Both were women and both were left trapped inside their vehicles by the severity of the damage – as fire began to take hold.
The driver, who wished to remain anonymous, recounted the terrifying episode – which ended with firefighters telling him he’d taken the correct action.
He said: “I was two cars behind; it was bad and I don’t want to experience the like of it again.
“I just switched into a ‘mode’.
“She was trapped in the first car, there was loads of smoke and a bit of fire.
“I ran straight back to the mini-bus as we have a fire extinguisher. It was burning, so I put the fire out in the first and then the second, which wasn’t as bad.
“I could not get the door open, so tried the passenger door but that would not open.
“I hit myself in the face with it, because I pulled it so hard. Within five or ten minutes the police and fire service turned up and got them out, it was very traumatising.
“The fire brigade took over and said I had done the right thing,” he said.
One of the women appeared to have been seriously injured, but was understood to have been discharged from hospital, he said.
The second driver was, co-incidentally, known to the cabbie and he said she was recovering, but would still need further surgery on her injuries.
There were no passengers on board the mini-bus during the emergency, the driver confirmed.