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Join on Telegram Marrakech – A 31-year-old Moroccan man named Noureddine Fortli helped rescue 50 students from a school bus that was at risk of catching fire after a collision in Italy, according to local Italian media. The incident occurred on October 29 at around 7:30 a.m. in Piavon di Oderzo.
“I will remember those moments for the rest of my life: if I hadn’t had the fire extinguisher with me, the bus would have caught fire with the children still inside,” Fortli said in an interview following the rescue.
Fortli, who has been living in Ormelle since 2002 with his wife and child, was on his way to work when he came upon the accident scene. The school bus had collided head-on with a Hyundai Tucson driven by 85-year-old Germano De Luca, who was driving with a revoked license and became the sole fatality in the crash.
Acting quickly, Fortli stopped his company van and rushed to help. He was joined by Sandro Gressani, a banker from Caorle, and two other men at the scene.
“We followed our instincts,” Fortli explained. “First, we saw that a small fire had broken out under the bus, but we were afraid that diesel had leaked from the bus’s tank and was filling the ditch. We thought everyone would die if the flames reached the fuel.”
When Gressani called for a fire extinguisher, Fortli retrieved one from his work van. He handed it to Gressani, who used it to extinguish the flames before they could spread.
At that point, only some students had managed to escape through the rear window and roof hatch. Many were still trapped inside, frightened and calling for help.
“They were scared, panicking, crying, or calling for help,” Fortli recalled. “We took them one by one, helping them get off the bus. To prevent them from being cut by glass shards left after the windows shattered, we placed our jackets over the edges.”
The rescue effort was physically demanding. “To tell you the truth, my arms hurt the next day from lifting so many of them out. I also slipped in the mud at one point, but I didn’t even notice because I was so focused,” he said.
Fortli and the others also approached De Luca’s vehicle, but quickly realized nothing could be done to save him. “It was terrible. I had never seen a dead body in my life,” Fortli said. The victim remained visible to rescuers and students for about ten minutes until emergency services arrived and covered him.
After spending two hours at the accident site, Fortli went to work, concerned about his tardiness. However, his employers at Tonello Servizi in Oderzo only congratulated him when they heard what had happened.
Despite being called a hero, Fortli remains humble about his actions. “There’s nothing extraordinary about it. We did what needed to be done,” he concluded.
Local authorities are considering presenting Fortli and Gressani with a commendation in the coming weeks for their quick thinking and brave actions that day.
