Iraqi refugee rescues victims of plane crash in western Germany
An Iraqi refugee in western Germany has rescued the victims of a plane crash from the burning wreckage, a heroic act despite harsh blows of xenophobic attacks against asylum seekers in the European country.
The 34-year-old veterinarian, Hassanien Salman, was taking a shower in the refugee shelter in the city of Osnabrück in Lower-Saxony on Thursday morning when he heard the crash. He hurriedly put on a T-shirt and boxers and dashed about 200 meters to the scene to help the victims, German daily Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung reported.
The small propeller aircraft, with four people on board, had to perform an emergency landing near the refugee shelter, a former army barracks, due to the failure of one of its engines shortly after it took off from nearby Atterheide Airport in Osnabrück.
Two of the passengers seated in the back rows of the plane had already escaped the shattered aircraft with light injuries, but the other two in the front row were seriously wounded and stuck in the engulfing flames.
Salman with the aid of another Iraqi asylum seeker managed to extinguish the flames and pull the two to safety. He told the German newspaper that though he was “only a vet”, he provided basic treatment for one of the victims with head injuries until emergency services arrived to the scene.
All the four people involved in the crash survived.
Some 1.1 million refugees were registered in Germany between January and December 2015. The country is expecting 2.5 million more to arrive over the next five years.
According to Germany’s Criminal Police Office, over 800 attacks targeted refugee shelters in 2015. A total of 231 extreme-right attacks were also recorded across the country between January 1 and February 20 this year.
Europe is facing an unprecedented influx of refugees who are fleeing conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria.
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