Passers-By Use Tools & Hands To Get Driver Out Of Crushed Car
During the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, it’s unfortunately inevitable that there’ll be civilian casualties.
However, many may not expect civilian vehicles to be willfully run over by tanks while innocently driving on the road.
Scarily, that’s just what happened – a car was flattened by a tank on the streets of Kyiv.
Thankfully, the driver, an elderly man, miraculously survived the ordeal.
Incident caught on multiple videos
The incident took place in Ukrainian capital Kyiv, according to NBC News.
It was caught on videos by multiple witnesses, who apparently watched horrified from surrounding buildings.
One of the videos starts off with the tank making its way down the almost-empty road, sounds of gunfire in the distance.
It suddenly makes a hard swerve to its left, leaving trail marks on the road, for a reason that will soon become clear.
A black car comes into the frame, and the tank runs over it with seemingly no hesitation at all.
This happens to the terrified wails and cries of the women witnessing the scene.
Tank reverses over car
The tank isn’t done yet though – after a short pause sitting on top of the car, it goes into reverse.
That means it basically runs over the car a 2nd time.
It then appears to fire shots at unidentified targets in the distance.
Another video of the incident taken from another angle shows that the car was driving straight along the road when the tank seems to go out of its way to run over it.
Rescue of elderly driver attempted
Judging from the alarmed noises of the onlookers, they most likely feared for the lives of whoever was in the car.
Surprisingly, the driver of the car survived, and was even found to be conscious.
Another video showed passers-by trying to rescue him from the wreckage.
Armed with only simple tools like hammers and picks, some had to resort to using their bare hands to pry apart the twisted metal while the dazed man inside could move only his left arm.
His car, however, ended up as flat as a pancake.
Source: WhatsApp
Car may have been caught up amid battle
While it’s uncertain whose side the tank was on, news sources like The Daily Mail identified it as a Strela-10 anti-aircraft vehicle.
It was believed to have been driven by pro-Russian “saboteurs”, the paper reported.
However, there has also been speculation that the tank was actually a Ukrainian tank that lost control, Yahoo News reported.
Intriguingly, a video posted on Friday (25 Feb) showed an armed confrontation, reportedly between a Russian military truck and Ukrainian territorial forces.
Warning: The video contains scenes of a violent nature, including gun shots and a man being shot and possibly killed. Viewer discretion is advised.
In the middle of the 2:20 minute-long video, the same tank can be seen running over the car amid a fierce gun battle.
Thus, the unfortunate civilian driver could’ve been caught up in a battle that he wasn’t directly involved in.
Armed conflicts cost lives
In every armed conflict, there will inevitably be collateral damage.
The circumstances surrounding the frightening incident are still uncertain, and there’s still the possibility that the car was crushed in error.
However, it does drive home the message that an armed conflict will come at huge cost to human lives, whether accidental or not.
We hope the parties involved will be able to settle their differences as soon as possible, to avoid further threat to innocent lives.
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Featured images adapted from @Worldaffairs0 on Twitter and WhatsApp.
