'Hero without a cape': Bus captain rushes to aid driver of burning Lamborghini

A bus captain has been hailed a hero after he rushed to the aid of driver whose black Lamborghini caught fire near a bus stop along Holland Road on Saturday evening (Aug 8).

In a video shared by Instagram user Smb340d, a bus captain can be seen handling a fire extinguisher as he and a Caucasian man carefully inspect a smoking Lamborghini.

A short distance behind the vehicle is SBS Transit bus 123, which bus captain Zhang Zhipeng was driving when he noticed the smoke-emitting vehicle.

As the driver paces anxiously around his car, Zhang can be seen placing the fire extinguisher at the rear of the Lamborghini and spraying it into the vehicle's interior.

Responding to queries from AsiaOne, SBS Transit spokesperson Grace Wu said Zhang safely stopped his bus and informed his passengers of the situation before taking a fire extinguisher from the bus to assist.

The 51-year-old approached the still-burning car and found that the driver's fire extinguisher had been depleted. He immediately stepped in to help put out the blaze.

"Bus captain Zhang used his extinguisher to put it out before returning to his bus and continuing his journey," Wu said.

She added that SBS Transit bus captains undergo basic firefighting classes as part of their skills training, and Zhang was able to draw on this to aid the driver "calmly and decisively".

"He was in the right place at the right time, and we commend him for stepping forward to help a fellow motorist when it mattered," Wu said.

In the comments section of the Instagram post, many users praised Zhang for his quick thinking.

"Bus driver is the MVP (most valuable player) of the day!" wrote one user.

Another commented: "So proud of the bus captain for his good work in saving the car from an inferno."

"Hero without the cape," said a user, echoing another commenter who wrote: "Not all heroes wear capes."

[[nid:742110]]

khooyihang@asiaone.com