'I helped two teenagers escape from a crashed car - then one grabbed a machete'
06.05.2024 - 17:31
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A man has described the horrifying moment he pulled two teenagers from a crashed car filling with smoke after flipping onto its side - only for one of them to then grab a machete.
The 60-year-old Oldham resident was strimming the hedge that surrounds his house on Hollins Road at around 12pm today (May 6) on what was a quiet bank holiday Monday when he heard a ‘bang’.
He turned and watched on in horror as a car flipped onto its side after smashing into a stationary car just yards from his house.
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Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, the shaken resident said he immediately ran over to the upturned car in a bid to help anyone trapped inside.
“I went running and saw somebody was trying to open the car door. There was smoke inside the car and I thought there might have been a fire.
“My first priority was the safety of life. I jumped on the car and helped open the door and held their hand, pulled and said 'get out, get out quick’. These two young lads came out and I said ‘Is there anyone else in the car?’ I couldn’t see because of the smoke, and they said 'no'.
“Then I saw one had a big knife in his hand and tried to smash the front windscreen. I said 'what are you doing?’. They were going in for stuff inside, mobile phones and everything I don’t know. He was bleeding everywhere, his arm was bleeding”.
The man said the big knife he saw appeared to be a machete and that, after taking a bag from inside the car, both teenagers fled. “They were 15 or 16 and bleeding. Then they ran with knives in their hands,” he added.
The resident said the vehicle he helped the pair escape from had crashed into another car parked outside a