Bystander rescues woman from Brussels canal

Lailuma Sadid
Credit: Brandweer Brussel

Brussels (The Brussels morning Newspaper): On 3rd September Tuesday, a passer-by rescued a drowning woman in the canal near the Van Praet bridge in Brussels, holding her until emergency services arrived. The woman was hospitalized but is not in immediate danger. Investigations are ongoing to determine how she fell in.

On 3rd September Tuesday afternoon, emergency services, including firefighters, medical teams from the 112 emergency center, and the Brussels Capital/Ixelles police, responded to a serious situation involving someone in trouble in the canal near the Van Praet bridge in Brussels. A spokesperson said that the situation was dramatic because a passer-by saw the person drowning and acted quickly to help.

How did a  bystander rescue a woman from the Brussels canal?

When the emergency responders arrived, they found the passer-by bravely holding the person who was struggling in the water by one arm. The passer-by was in a risky position on a structure above the water, but they managed to keep the person afloat until help arrived. It has been said that Their quick actions were very important in preventing the person from going completely underwater. The fire brigade’s divers quickly jumped into action. They got into the canal to safely pull the drowning person out of the water. The teamwork between the passer-by and the professional rescuers helped get the person to safety fast, so the medical teams could give more help right there at the scene.

After being rescued from the canal, the woman was quickly taken to the hospital. She was not in immediate danger of dying. However, it’s still unclear how she fell into the water, and investigations are ongoing to find out what happened. The spokesperson for the emergency services thanked the passer-by, called the Good Samaritan, for his brave actions. They highlighted how important his quick and selfless help was, saying, “Without his intervention, the incident may have ended differently.” The passer-by’s choice to act right away likely stopped a much worse situation from happening, showing how important regular people can be in emergencies.

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Brussels Morning is a daily online newspaper based in Belgium. BM publishes unique and independent coverage on international and European affairs. With a Europe-wide perspective, BM covers policies and politics of the EU, significant Member State developments, and looks at the international agenda with a European perspective.
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Lailuma Sadid is a former diplomat in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Embassy to the kingdom of Belgium, in charge of NATO. She attended the NATO Training courses and speakers for the events at NATO H-Q in Brussels, and also in Nederland, Germany, Estonia, and Azerbaijan. Sadid has is a former Political Reporter for Pajhwok News Agency, covering the London, Conference in 2006 and Lisbon summit in 2010.
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