Officers, bystanders flip burning car to save 70-year-old Texas driver after wrong-way crash

ByDanny Clemens WPVI logo
Saturday, January 5, 2019
Officers, bystanders flip burning car to save 70-year-old driver: VIDEO
A driver in Corpus Christi, Texas, survived a harrowing crash after police officers and bystanders worked together to flip his overturned burning car and rescue him, local officials said.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- A Texas driver survived a wrong-way crash after police officers and bystanders worked together to flip his overturned burning car and rescue him.

According to the Corpus Christi Police Department, the crash happened just after 5 a.m. on New Year's Day. The 70-year-old motorist was driving down State Highway 358 when his vehicle was struck by a driver on the wrong side of the road, causing his car to flip onto its side and catch fire.

Dashboard camera footage of the crash's aftermath showed a group of nine people working together to right the burning vehicle.

Police said they believed the driver "would not have survived without (the) heroic efforts" of the first responders and civilians.

Three other people in the burning car escaped with injuries that are not life-threatening, according to local media reports, while the wrong-way driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Police believe that driver may have been drinking, KRIS-TV reported.