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Good Samaritans rescue driver before crashed van explodes in flames in N.W. Philly

A tow truck driver from Delaware County rallied two bystanders to rescue the motorist from an overturned minivan as flames approached the gas tank.

File Photo: A tow truck driver and two bystanders pulled a motorist from an overturned minivan just before it exploded in flames in Northeast Philadelphia.
File Photo: A tow truck driver and two bystanders pulled a motorist from an overturned minivan just before it exploded in flames in Northeast Philadelphia.Read moreChris Carlson / AP Photo

A passing tow-truck driver and two passersby pulled a motorist from an overturned minivan right before it exploded into flames early Wednesday on Roosevelt Boulevard in East Falls. The crash occurred about 2 a.m. in the northbound lanes near Fox Street.

John Michulka, a tow truck driver from Marcus Hook, said he saw the crash from the southbound lanes and turned around. He said the driver was unresponsive when he got to the vehicle and he saw flames coming from near the gas tank.

"My first reaction was to get him out of the car, so I literally yelled to two other guys standing there on the side of the highway and had them come over, and we just pulled the gentleman out of the car and pulled him to the side of the highway," Michulka told 6abc.

"Sixty seconds later, the car pretty much blew up," he told CBS3.

The driver, whose name has not been released, was reported in critical but stable condition. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Editor's Note: This story was revised to correct the neighborhood where the crash occurred. It is East Falls, not Northeast Philadelphia.