Man saves driver from car in freezing river

Hoang Ngoc Luong, 44, was on his way to pick up his son, who had just finished his military duties, on Monday when he saw several people gathered at the Cat Gia Bridge in Tien Hai District.

He heard that a car had fallen into the river and its driver was trapped inside.

Luong then took off his coat and jumped into the water. The air temperature at the time was 12 degrees Celsius.

"I dived and saw that the window in the back seat was already halfway open, and the driver was stuck in the driver’s seat, choking on the water," Luong said. "I grabbed her and got her out of the vehicle, and then brought her back up [to the surface of the water]," Luong said.

The river was about 2 meter deep at the site of the incident.

The driver coughed violently once on dry land, but she then came to her senses following the administration of first-aid. After seeing that the victim was safe, Luong got back on his motorbike with his son to return home, around 10 km from the scene.

Luong said it was cold at the time and his clothes were wet, so he immediately changed when he got home.

"I saw that someone was in trouble so I helped them, I didn’t think much at the time. It’s almost Tet, my son had come home from the military, I rescued someone. For me, that’s happiness," he said.

Mai Van Hoai, chairman of Nam Cuong Commune, said the commune is sending officers to meet Luong. The chairman said he is recommending Luong for official commandment by the Tien Hai District People’s Committee.