New York student saves a 5-year-old girl from a burning car in an accident

The young man witnessed how a car overturned and caught fire at high speed on a Manhattan highway. He pulled the girl out of the rubble while her father lay bleeding on the sidewalk, reports Daily News.

Asher Rubinov, 25, a fourth-year student at NYU College of Dentistry, was heading home to Rego Park, Queens. And then he noticed a scorcher coming up behind him on Roosevelt Drive near 46th Street around 17:15 p.m. on September 26.

A 30-year-old man driving a 2022 Toyota sedan pulled over and wanted to pass in front of Rubinov.

“He was trying to run at 100 miles per hour (a little over 160 km/h - Ed.), Rubinov explained. “When I saw him in the rearview mirror, I thought that there definitely wasn’t enough room for him to do this.”

The Toyota driver, losing control, crashed into a concrete wall on the side of the road and Rubinov's 2015 BMW.

According to police, the car crossed several lanes of traffic and overturned.

“The car went up in the air,” the student said of Toyota. “And suddenly it caught fire.”

The driver was thrown out of the car onto the sidewalk, his car was on fire nearby.

“I see a man lying face down without moving,” the guy recalls the details. I even thought the driver was dead. He was covered in blood.”

To help the victim, the guy dialed 911. The dispatcher asked if anyone else was in the car.

“The car was on fire for about a minute since the accident,” Rubinov said. “I saw a little girl in the back seat.”

He also recalled how a 5-year-old girl for a long time could not unfasten herself from her seat belt.

“So I picked it up and carried it outside. By then, the father of the child was practically on his feet.”

On the subject: In New York, drivers who kill pedestrians and cyclists are almost never arrested: sometimes they don’t even try to punish them.

Rubinov handed the girl over to the woman who was watching the unfolding chaos, and at that moment the flames intensified.

“The car exploded,” he stated. “It was really terrible.”

Drivers delayed by the fiery crash gathered nearby.

“Many people yelled at him for driving fast,” the student recalls. He didn't even know where he was and kept asking everyone what happened. He had a huge bump on his forehead.”

The man and his daughter were taken to a local hospital for treatment, with Rubinov stressing that the accident was almost "unreal".

“This is probably the craziest thing that has ever happened to me. But I felt good because I was able to help someone,” he stressed. “I’ve passed this place several times already and I can’t stop thinking about it.”

A police spokesman was unable to comment on whether the speeding driver had been given any summonses.

“After this story, I definitely began to drive more slowly,” said Rubinov in the end.