Store manager drags driver to safety from burning car
A man is being hailed a hero after pulling a driver from a burning car that was upside down after it crashed in California on Tuesday morning.
Mattress store manager Santiago Portillo saw the flipped Honda engulfed by flames in front of his store and began recording the blaze on his mobile phone - until he realised there was someone trapped inside.
He quickly put the phone down, but it kept recording.
The video captures the harrowing moment the father drags the driver out of the vehicle to safety.
Moments later, another passerby stops to help Mr Portillo lift the man further away from the blaze.
"It looked unreal. I saw an arm hanging out the window and a sweater," Mr Portillo told NBC California.
"I knew there was a human life in there. I just wasn't going to witness that guy getting roasted. I went inside the car. There was fire going through the vents."
*Victims dragged from burning car moments before exploding into fireball
It is believed the driver, identified as Ricardo Nunez, is suspected of street racing, which lead to his out-of-control car crashing and flipping before it burst into flames.
After dragging the driver to safety Mr Portillo urged pedestrians to call emergency services.
“I know he that he may not be alive if I wasn't there," he told CBS Los Angeles.
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