Brave Teens and Local Heroes Come Together to Stop Sliding Truck

Two brave high school students have prevented a 1-ton parked truck from sliding down a steep hill, which almost led to a major accident.

According to the Chosun Ilbo on June 4, the incident occurred at 9:11 PM on June 1 in an alley of a residential area in Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul.

A 1-ton cargo truck parked on a steep hill began to slowly slide down. The truck’s brake was released with no driver inside.

Pedestrians and vehicles were passing by just a few dozen yards below the truck, which could have led to a potentially disastrous situation.

Suddenly, something remarkable happened. Two high school students passing by courageously stepped in. The students from Danggok High School were returning from a badminton game at a nearby gym and ran straight toward the sliding truck.

They immediately began to hold up against the truck without hesitation. However, the weight of the truck was too much for the two students to prevent it from sliding.

Then a female student began to shout, “Help! The truck is sliding down!” Two women in their 20s came up the hill and joined them.

Despite the hard efforts of the four individuals, the truck continued to slide down.

A man in his 60s passing by witnessed the situation and immediately ran to the driver’s seat of the truck to step on the parking brake.

However, for some reason, the truck kept moving. It turned out to be an old manual truck, and the slope was too steep that it couldn’t stop.

The man called his daughter and her boyfriend for help who were fortunately nearby, arriving in less than a minute to help hold the truck.

All seven citizens held up against the truck with all their strength until emergency services arrived. A fire truck arrived at the scene 20 minutes later and the truck finally came to a stop.

A Bongcheon fire official shared, “The slope of the steep hill was over 35 degrees, so it seems that the old truck was sliding unintentionally.” The official explained, “If it weren’t for the courageous citizens, it could have resulted in a major disaster.”

Thanks to the bravery of the two high school students and the assistance of the other citizens, a secondary accident was prevented.