A feel-good story

The Spanish press has dubbed him a hero. On December 6, Gorgui Lamine Sow, an undocumented man from Senegal rescued a man with disabilities who was trapped as a fire raged through his apartment in the small coastal town of Denia near Alicante. After the remarkable rescue, the hero just vanished until locals tracked him down a few days later. He told France 24 his story.

Early in the afternoon of December 6, a fire broke out in a small building in Denia, a port town in eastern Spain. The fire started in an apartment belonging to a man with disabilities, who, unable to move, was trapped amongst the flames, crying out for help. Suddenly, a young man wearing turquoise climbed up to the balcony from the street below, broke into the apartment and came out carrying the man. A neighbour took several photos of the rescue.