During the event, Secretary Nguyen Huu Hiep of the Thu Duc City Party Committee, along with Vo Van Hoan, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, presented commendations from the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to five silent heroes including Mai Le Duy Quang from Quang Ngai Province, currently living in Thu Duc City; Nguyen Hoang Truong in Thu Duc City; Vu Thanh Tung coming from Gia Lai Province, currently in Thu Duc City; South Korean citizen Lee Geumho in District 7 and Dang Binh Quang in District 7.
Addressing the gathering, Vice Chairman Nguyen Ky Phung of the Thu Duc City People's Committee noted that the courageous acts of heroes of the year who had rescued victims in the traffic accident at the foot of Phu My Bridge have gone viral.
Upon receiving the commendation from Ho Chi Minh City's leadership, Mr. Mai Le Duy Quang, one of the five individuals who had rescued victims in the accident, shared that he and the others had instinctively focused on saving lives in that dire situation. He expressed his belief that any Vietnamese person would have acted similarly under those circumstances.
As reported by the Saigon General Newspaper, on the afternoon of August 8, a truck driver was operating a truck with a Kien Giang license plate and traveling from District 7 toward Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City. While descending the Phu My Bridge, the truck experienced brake failure and collided with the median.
Undeterred, the truck continued to careen forward, crashing into other vehicles. The incident resulted in fires engulfing two passenger cars and one truck, while four other vehicles were severely damaged. Several individuals trapped within these vehicles were courageously rescued by passersby and subsequently transported for emergency medical treatment. The heroic actions of these individuals were captured on video by bystanders, shared widely on social media, and met with widespread praise.
Upon investigation, authorities identified the five above-mentioned unsung heroes. Mai Le Duy Quang climbed onto the roof of a car, shattered the window, and pulled a trapped individual from the driver's seat while Nguyen Hoang Truong used a portable fire extinguisher to douse the flames within the cabin and assisted in the rescue efforts and Vu Thanh Tung along with another man wearing a white shirt, rescued one person from a car and subsequently joined Quang in rescuing the car's driver. Meanwhile, Korean man Lee Geumho helped Tung to pull a man from a car; and Dang Binh Quang assisted in pushing open the car door and providing first aid to the injured.
