Nea Makri, Greece: In an incident which proved that humanity still alive, an Egyptian fisherman has saved the lives of 23 Greece citizens by risking his own life. He save these persons when they were trapped between sea and wildfires.
According to the report published in Al-Jazeera, Mahmoud al-Sayed Mousa (46), Egyptian fisherman was relaxing when he got the information of wildfire. Once he came to know that people of the coastal village of Mati are jumping into the sea to escape a wildfire, he rushed to save them.
He reached the port in Nea Makri where he docked his fishing boat. He started his boat, began moving towards Mati’s shore.
Sharing his experience, Mahmoud said that black smog was the biggest hurdle in rescuing the people. Many people were trapped between wildfire and the sea.
It may be mentioned that due to massive wildfire, the people were unable to find the way out of the village. They were forced to jump into the sea.
During the rescue operation, Mahmoud covered his face so that he can prevent himself from inhaling fumes.
He grabbed persons and lifted them onto the boat. After rescuing them, people cried and hugged him.
Commenting on the number of persons he saved, Mahmoud said that he was able to save 23 Greeks and four dogs.
After shifting them to the boat, Mahmoud and his boss, Kostas brought the persons to dry land in Nea Marki. Mahmoud also filmed the rescue operation and shared it on Facebook.
The rescue teams, the coastguard and others were able to save 700 people. However, more than 90 persons died.
It may be noted that due to wildfires, more than 1,000 homes were destroyed.
Mahmoud shifted to Greece when he was 16-year-old. He belongs to Ezbet El Borg, city in Egypt.
Applauding the efforts of Muslim refugees and migrants in rescuing persons, Mr. Naim Elghandour, the Egyptian-born president of the Muslim Association of Greece said that earlier, Egyptian fishermen faced racist violence.