Amateur video captured a remarkable rescue as bystanders and police formed a “human chain” to save a man trapped inside a burning car in Palm Bay, Fla., Sunday.
According to Palm Bay police, the accident occurred just after 11:00 a.m. local time after an SUV collided with another vehicle on U.S. Route 1, causing the SUV to tumble down an embankment.
The situation became even more dire when, shortly after the accident, the SUV began to smoke, and then burst into flames.
Amateur video captured by local resident Shannon Perez shows what happened next, as bystanders rushed to help the man. According to WESH News, while some people ran to get a fire extinguisher from a nearby hotel, around a dozen others began to form a human chain to get down the embankment to reach the trapped driver.
“All of us were kind of just trying to help out trying to find tools to break windows screaming across street for fire extinguishers, and just kind of anything we could do to get this person out of the car- because it did catch fire,” Perez told WESH.
“So we were all, you know, just kind of coming together. People driving by were stopping.”
WATCH: Pedestrians form human chain to rescue woman stranded by flood
According to the Palm Bay police department, officers Steve Shytle and Ryan VanNote were the first to respond to the crash, and assisted bystanders in forming the “human chain.”
Making matters more difficult for rescuers was the fact that the man, left disoriented from a head injury sustained in the accident, was allegedly combative with his would-be rescuers.
“Because of the gentleman that was fighting us we weren’t able to make it up the side of the hill up to the roadway,” Shytle said. “The citizens that were all there, basically what they did is they made a chain. And there was five or six guys, that went arm-to-arm, chained down to us and we were able to grab a hold of the last guy.”
“And I grabbed a hold of his belt, and Officer VanNote grabbed the guy’s arm, and you know all of a sudden it was one, two, three and the whole chain just pulled us all the way up the hill.”
WATCH: Shannon Perez and Officer Shytle describe the difficult rescue
The driver was treated at the scene by Palm Bay Fire Rescue before being taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center for further treatment. His identity and current condition have not been released.
Several of the bystanders who assisted in the rescue suffered minor scrapes and bruises, but did not suffer any serious injuries.
“Everyone just kind of jumped in just to save this person,” Perez said. “So it was really impressive to watch, to be a part of. You know it was a miracle and a blessing just to see the kindness and the courage involved in that, the bravery.”
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