'Lift it together': Police call on bystanders to free 8-year-old trapped under car wheel

An 8-year-old girl whose leg was pinned under a vehicle wheel in a residential neighborhood in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, was safely rescued with the help of police and bystanders.

According to the Gwangju Gyeonggi Police Station on Tuesday, a Hyundai Santa Fe driven by a man in his 40s, identified only as A, struck the girl, identified only as B, at around 2:05 p.m. Monday in a piloti parking lot of a multi-unit residential building in Yangbeol-dong, Gwangju.

A was making a left turn to enter the parking lot when he failed to notice B sitting nearby, police said.

The vehicle stopped immediately after the collision, but the girl's leg was caught between the front passenger-side wheel and the ground, leaving her unable to free herself.

An officer who responded to the scene assessed the situation and asked bystanders to help lift the vehicle. About 10 people immediately joined in, and together with the officer they raised the car enough to pull the girl free within minutes.

B was airlifted by medical helicopter to a nearby hospital. She sustained abrasions but her condition is not life-threatening.

Police are investigating the exact circumstances of the accident and questioning driver A.