An Australian television reporter and a bystander rescued a man from his car moments before it was completely submerged by flood water in Queensland, in an incident captured on camera and reported by Reuters on Thursday local time.
Will Murray, a journalist with Australia’s public broadcaster ABC, was reporting on flooding north of Brisbane when a man drove a four-wheel drive through flood water. The vehicle stalled and began to sink, and Murray and another man swam out to it and pulled the driver free.
"The pair of them definitely saved that man’s life," said ABC camera operator Liz Pickering, who witnessed the rescue. About 170 mm (6.7 inches) of rain had fallen in the town of Morayfield on Thursday when the incident took place.
The rescue is a reminder of the warning emergency services repeat every flood season: driving through flood water is one of the leading causes of flood deaths, because a stalled vehicle can be swept away or submerged in minutes.
