Motorist hailed as hero for pulling family from car in China before it turned into fireball

A car dealer from eastern China has been hailed as a hero after he pulled a family to safety from a burning car seconds before it exploded, a newspaper reported.

The man was driving on a highway to Changzhou in Jiangsu province with his pregnant wife and brother-in-law when he saw a car had hit a roadside barrier and was on fire, the Legal Evening News reported. 

The man opened the door of the passenger seat and pulled the woman and child out, the report said. 

He then tried driver’s seat, but it would not budge. 

The driver pleaded to the man to leave him because the car was about to explode, but he would not give up. 

He and his brother-in-law used a wrench to break the window and open the door from the inside. 

The car exploded five seconds after the pair pulled the driver out.