Rescuer Roman Jedrzejewski said he ‘wanted to save people’ but was unable after the car became increasingly hot from the fire, preventing him from opening its doors
A traumatised shop owner has recalled the horrifying moment he tried to pull a man and two children from a Tesla engulfed in flames when its automatic doors locked four people inside.
Roman Jedrzejewski said he saw the disaster unfold in Western Germany on Sunday when the vehicle drove off the road while attempting to overtake another car in the village of Villigst. The Tesla crashed into a tree and burst into flames, as per police. Three people trapped inside were tragically burned alive, but one girl aged nine, was able to escape and rushed to hospital.
Speaking to local media, Roman said he desperately tried to open the door using the Tesla’s retractable handles but was unable to.
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The local, who runs a paint shop, said he saw the crash happen directly opposite his shop. He was working when he suddenly heard “really loud braking noises” and “really loud squealing tires” and a loud bang.
He said he saw smoke from the other side of the street and grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed in its direction. He tried to put the fire out, but he says the extinguisher “didn’t help.”
“I wanted to save people. I tried to open the car, but that didn’t work…It was already so hot from the fire.”
“The car was hanging halfway in a tree at head height, and the front was burning. But they just couldn’t get it open; I wanted to pull the children out. I was desperate, I couldn’t do anything’. Damn it, I didn’t help. It didn’t work”, he said.
The victims were a 43-year-old man and two children, both aged nine. Local police have said they investigating the cause of the incident.
The retractable door handles on several Tesla models have previously been reported to have stopped working the moment power is cut off. According to the German Automobile Association, manual opening of the cars is only possible from the inside which means rescue services have struggles to rescue people form the vehicles.
The North Rhine-Westphalia Police Department’s specialised team will conduct a full analysis of the incident to determine the causes for the tragedy.
“Our goal is to fully reconstruct the course of events and clearly determine the cause,” the district police department stated.
The Mirror has contacted Tesla for comment.