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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Vassia Barba

Drivers save woman from burning car on motorway as they drag her from wreckage

Hero drivers on a motorway stopped and helped a woman out of the car she was driving when it erupted into flames.

Footage from the incident that took place in Long Island, New York, US, on Monday, January 16, shows Susan Denise rolling on the asphalt after being dragged out of a burning car.

Six people can be seen carrying Denise, while others are sprinkling water into the fire, as traffic is being held up.

The woman is being carried to the other side of the highway as far away from the burning Jeep Liberty as possible.

The 56-year-old who was later identified as Susan Denise, of Farmingville, NY, was driving her 2022 Jeep Liberty towards exit 62 on the Long Island Expressway, also called Interstate 495, at around midday.

Motorists worked together to carry Susan Denise out of the burning car (Todd Miranda/LOCAL NEWS X /TMX / SWNS)
The woman was taken to a hospital in critical condition (Todd Miranda/LOCAL NEWS X /TMX / SWNS)

Suffolk County Police Department said that the vehicle hit the central reservation, flipped over, and caught fire.

Multiple eyewitnesses stopped on the highway and sprang into action to help Denise.

The group flipped her car onto its four wheels and dragged Denise from the driver’s seat while she was reportedly getting burned by the flames.

She was given first aid on the scene before a police helicopter flew her to Stony Brook University Hospital in critical condition.

Susan Denise was dragged out of a burning car (Todd Miranda/LOCAL NEWS X /TMX / SWNS)

Eyewitness Todd Miranda, who filmed the clip, thanked the "five brave, courageous passersby" who "risked their lives to pull this woman out of a burning fireball of a car, to save her life".

He admitted that he "felt quite helpless, wishing that I had a fire extinguisher in my car so I could do something to help".

Todd said he "went to the store to buy two [extinguishers] right away so this never happens again".

Motorists helped Susan Denise out of a burning car on a Long Island motorway (Todd Miranda/LOCAL NEWS X /TMX / SWNS)

He added: "Praying for this woman's complete recovery."

Three out of four lanes on the westbound side of the motorway remained closed at the time until the incident was cleared.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

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