Victims dragged from burning car moments before exploding into fireball
Dramatic video reveals Good Samaritans pulling a man from a burning car moments before it exploded into a ball of fire after colliding with a bus.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said that police officers and a witness rescued two victims - a man and a woman - who were trapped inside a burning sedan before firefighters even made it to the scene.
The Good Samaritans rescued the pair from the damaged Mercedes after a chain-reaction crash ignited a Metro bus, which ignited into a fireball at around 6:30 pm local time on Tuesday.
According to witness accounts, a black Mercedes-Benz was racing a white Dodge Challenger before they collided into the bus.
In video obtained exclusively by KTLA, mobile phone footage reveals the moment three heroes worked together to pull the bodies of the people trapped inside the burning wreckage.
Another man can be seen sprinting across the video with carrying a fire extinguisher.
In more footage obtained by an onlooker, a woman can be seen reaching out to a police officer and telling him that she witnessed the cars racing before smashing into each other on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Western Avenue.
"Officer, I need to talk to you. These guys were racing. They almost crashed into me way back there," the woman said in the mobile phone footage.
Seven people were injured during the explosion and six people were taken to the hospital, including two in critical condition, according to fire officials.
The driver of the Mercedes suffered third-degree burns and the crash involved two other vehicles.
Luckily, the bus was unoccupied and only the driver was present at the time of the crash.
"Although this is a tragedy, it could've been much worse and we're very fortunate that the bus was empty when that incident occurred," Sgt. Barry Montgomery with the Los Angeles Police Department told ABC7.
Witness Penny Daniels told the news station: "I was like, Lord Jesus get them out ... As soon as they got the guy out, it blew up."
Police said they have not yet determined the cause of the crash, but claims the drivers would face reckless driving charges if street racing was involved.
