Chinese driver survives after being impaled by four bamboo poles in crash
Firefighters cut man free before surgeons remove poles from his torso
A driver of a three-wheeled motorcycle had a miraculous escape after being impaled by four bamboo poles in a road accident in central China on Wednesday night.
The rear-end collision – in Yangxin county in Huangshi, Hubei province – occurred at about 10pm when the man lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a light truck in front that was fully loaded with bamboo poles, according to news website Cnhubei.com on Thursday.
Moments later, the bamboo poles, which were several metres long, slid backwards and smashed through the windscreen of the motorcycle, four of them speared the driver through the chest.
Firefighters arrived at the scene and spent more than an hour cutting through the poles so that the driver could be freed. Some of the poles could be seen protruding from the man’s back in a video published on Sunday by Thepaper.cn.
During the rescue, firefighters kept the man talking to help him maintain consciousness. He was then rushed to Huangshi Central Hospital, where the poles were removed.
Surgeons removed the bamboo poles, which did not pierce the man’s internal organs, a doctor surnamed Liu told the South China Morning Post.
“He’s awake and recovering after the surgery,” Liu said.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation by police.
