On November 9th, at 2:45 am, in Franklin Township, two South Brunswick police officers, Thomas Sites and Yash Shroff, saved a 26 year old from his car as it was detonating. Before the accident, the man who has recently been identified as Safwan Islam, had crashed around Route 27 and immediately became unconscious. Within minutes, the officers arrived at the scene to see the gravely injured individual who was in critical condition and brought to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. While the car was slowly starting to set fire, Sites and Shroff realized Safwan was stuck inside with the door stuck. The two men grabbed batons and broke the windows just as flames started flying outside and the car was on the verge of explosion, and heroically grabbed the endangered man and rushed him out of the vehicle as it ultimately collapsed.
The event was recorded in dramatic footage. South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayduka said “The driver is severely injured, trapped, and his car is on fire. The fire was quickly spreading and appeared to be almost at Officer Sites’ feet when they are able to free the driver.”
Firefighters from Little Rocky Hill, Griggstown, and Rock Hill Fire Departments all came to the scene in around a minute and a half after the victim was sheltered to a safe place. Overall, he was shown to be in critical condition, however as of today he is on the path to healing, and is in stable condition at the moment. In the reality of it all, the young man was extremely lucky in the grand scheme of things to be saved by the heroes of our township.
