KOTA KINABALU, May 9 — A car ended up in a sewage pond after its 49-year-old driver accidentally swerved off the road into the roadside water catchment near Kingfisher Park early this morning.
The driver of the Perodua Viva and his 79-year-old mother, were trapped at first but managed to clamber out of the wade and wade to safety with the help of passers-by using a long branch.
One of the passers by was an off-duty fireman who saw them as he drove by, and got into the pond and assisted the victims to safety and also attached a cable to the vehicle for towing later.
Lintas Fire and Rescue Department station chief Agustavia Joe Guasi said both victims were safe.
“The off-duty fireman, Hasrulnizam Zain, had assisted the victims by holding out a long wooden branch to them,” she said.
“The woman got out of the car through the back door and held on to the stick to clamber to safety while the man had escaped via the driver’s seat window,”
Earlier, she said the department received a distress call at around 8.28am, and a team was sent to respond.
Agustavia said firemen were on site to monitor the situation and the vehicle was towed by a private company later.
