ASSISTANCE IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS

[Anchor Lead]

It's difficult to offer assistance when you witness a dangerous accident while driving. But we often hear of heartwarming stories where the small courage of citizens helped to prevent bigger accidents. Let's take a look at some of those scenes.

[Pkg]

​A vehicle is engulfed by smoke inside a tunnel. A tow truck driver coincidentally passing by spots the fire. The driver gets out, grabs a fire hose, and begins spraying water on the flaming vehicle.

[Soundbite] KANG JEONG-WON(RECEIVES 'RIGHTEOUS HIGHWAY PERSON' AWARD) : "The fire had continued for some time. The driver was trying to escape the blaze in the back seat."

Thanks to this person taking the time to extinguish the blaze while it was still relatively small, smoke did not fill the tunnel, which could have caused further problems. Here, a car crashes into the median dividing the highway. A driver passing by dials 112 and reports the incident. He even breaks the car's window and rescues the unconscious driver inside.

[Soundbite] SON HYEONG-GWON(RECEIVES 'RIGHTEOUS HIGHWAY PERSON' AWARD) : "I had a metal tool used to set up tents in my trunk. That came in handy to break the window."

There are numerous others who have helped, such as by pushing a car that had run out of fuel and stopped in the middle of the road. Here a driver exits his vehicle to signal other cars to be aware of a fallen object lying on the road ahead. The courage of these brave citizens prevented even bigger accidents from taking place in these precarious situations.

[Soundbite] YOON SI-TAE(RECEIVES 'RIGHTEOUS HIGHWAY PERSON' AWARD) : "I didn't set out to rescue anyone in particular. I just thought that if left unchecked, the situation would worsen."

The Korea Expressway Corporation has bestowed the "righteous highway person" award on ten such individuals along with prize money to recognize their heroic acts that encouraged public safety.