Footage captures TV reporter rescuing man from sinking car during flood

An Australian TV reporter and a nearby bystander rescued a man trapped in his sinking car as floodwaters continued to rise in Morayfield, Queensland, on Thursday.

The rescue was caught on camera as Will Murray, a journalist for the Australian Broadcast Corporation, was reporting on the heavy rainfall and flooding in when a man drove his car through the floodwaters.

Murray recalled the moment, telling Reuters, “We saw his window come down a bit and then go back up again. And obviously he couldn’t get out. It became very apparent that he might have been trying to get out but couldn’t do the windows or couldn’t do the door.”

“I realized that I’m going to have to go in… I started swimming and I’m very, very thankful that another man, Daniel, who I think was a local, jumped in with me and gave me a hand because with two of us it makes you feel a lot braver in that situation,” Murray added.

Murray said that Daniel took off his shorts in order to wrap them around his hand in case he had to punch through the car window.

“A few people have said, ‘Oh, that was a strange move.’ But I have to defend Daniel and say that was very logical. Luckily, he didn’t have to try and punch through the window because I had time then to jump to the passenger side, get my feet up against the car and pull as hard as I could,” Murray explained.

Murray said he “completely failed journalism 101” because he didn’t get the chance to get the survivor’s name or number, but said he hoped the man was doing well.

“You know, we had a big ​old hug ​after we got ⁠him out, and that was just one of the best moments of my life, I ​have to say, just the relief of ​seeing him ⁠safe and well. That was enough for me,” Murray added.

Emergency services in southeast Queensland responded to hundreds of distress calls on Thursday and Friday after more than 7.9 inches of rain caused flash flooding that closed roads and schools.

—With a file from Reuters