Omani’s indomitable spirit saves lives of two children

“I had some printing jobs. After purchasing groceries from the outlet at the fuel station, I was sitting back in my car, parked at the fuel station and checking the printed papers. Meanwhile, I saw a car was up in flames near the fuel pump. I also saw a person shouting that his children are inside the car. He ran twice to the car and then came back,” Mohammed told Times of Oman.

Determination

“I thought that I cannot sit idle. I didn’t consider what would happen to me. I just ran to the car. I opened the driver door. I couldn’t find the child.

“As the fuel station people were using fire extinguishers, it was quite hard to see anything, but while groping in the dark, I realised that I touched one child. Somehow, I managed to pull him out and found that it was the boy,” Mohammed added.

“After that I came to know that there was a girl too stuck inside the car. I managed to get inside through the driver’s seat. It was quite hard to breathe. The girl was ducking below the rear seat. Everything was burning. I pulled her out too. Thanks to the Almighty for giving me the strength to act,” he said.

Rescuing both of them, Mohammed then drove the father and the injured children to Sur hospital realising that waiting for an ambulance would worsen the condition of children.

Rushed to hospital

“As it was afternoon, the roads were jammed. However, I managed to reach the hospital as soon as possible,” Mohammed added.

Hospital sources said that both the children have suffered burn injuries.

“The four-year-old boy has suffered 30 per cent burns and the five-year-old girl has suffered 50 per cent burns. They may be shifted to Khoula Hospital for further treatment,” the source added.

A video of Mohammed rescuing the children was posted on social networking sites and immediately went viral.

Mohammed Al Hinai, the hero’s friend who created a hashtag #thankMohamedhashmi to congratulate his bravery, said that the hashtag was created to encourage people.

“Let people see this and come forward when others are in danger,” Mohammed, whose twitter handle is @ibntamima, added.

Meanwhile, a source at the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance PACDA said that the civil defence force headed to the spot and extinguished the fire as the fuel staff had already started extinguishing the fire before they reached.

Children in vehicles

“The PACDA has called on the public many times to avoid leaving their children in vehicles especially at fuel stations. Such behaviour leads to tragedy in some cases,” PCADA source added.