The truck driver who threw the car into the breach: watching the car engulfed by the river, like the sky falling

Li Yongxiang's new car had just been driven for more than three months, and its body was still shiny. He drove it into the river himself in order to fill the embankment.

On the evening of July 22, a dike of Weihe river burst in Peng village, Xinzhen Town, Jun County, Hebi City, Henan Province, and the flood poured into the village on the left bank.

At 10:00 that night, more than a dozen trucks of Hongyan transportation rescue team in Tunzi Town, about 32 kilometers away from Peng village, set out urgently to support the rescue. Li Yongxiang and other drivers of the team loaded 40 tons of stone into the car and prepared to pour it into the river.

The stones didn't stop the fast flowing water, so throwing the car became a last resort.

Driver Li Yongxiang drove his yufc1668 truck to the breach. He opened all the doors and windows in advance, pressed the accelerator with a sandbag, put his left foot on the step entering the cab, leaned to the left, held the steering wheel with both hands, and then slowly raised the gear of the car to third gear. The engine speed reached more than 2000 rpm, about 20 kilometers per hour. When Yu fc1668 truck was one meter away from the crevasse, Li Yongxiang jumped down from the cab. When lying on the ground, his feet were only 30 cm away from the tire.

He watched his "favorite car" sink into the dike one by one, disappear into the flood one by one, and finally even the tail light disappeared.

At 11:00 p.m. on July 24, recalling that the car sank and blocked the breach, Li Yongxiang choked and said that at that moment, it was like the sky falling, and tears could not stop flowing, "this is the first car I bought that belongs to me, and it is my favorite car."

Here is his readme.

At more than 4 a.m. on July 23, Li Yongxiang's yufc1668 truck rushed into the Weihe River crevasse. Picture provided by the interviewee

"Watching the car engulfed by the river, like the sky falling"

We volunteered to fight the flood. On the 22nd, all the drivers of the company were on standby 24 hours a day. We went wherever we had something to do. I added more than 1000 yuan of fuel to the car one day in advance, and I'm ready at any time.

At more than 10 p.m. on the 22nd, I received a call from the team leader, saying that the situation in the new town was urgent and that 10 cars must be transferred to pull stones to block the breach. We first drove to a place close to the new town to pull the stones. The stones were loaded at more than 12 p.m. and the size of the stones was similar to the table at home. After loading the stones, the weight of the car is 40 tons, plus the car skin, a total of 50 or 60 tons, the body is 6.2 meters long, plus the car head, a total of 8 meters long, and the car is more than 2 meters wide.

At 1 a.m. on the 23rd, we arrived at the crevasse. At that time, the scene was terrible. It was very dark and it was raining heavily. There was rain all around. The water flow at the crevasse was particularly urgent. I saw such a big water for the first time in my 30s. At that time, I thought I would be happy if I could stop the breach.

When we were sitting in the car waiting for unloading, the captain called us over with a walkie talkie and said that the stones unloaded by the front car had been washed away. The water flow was relatively rapid and the crevasse could not be blocked. The leader said, if you can't, throw in the car. I said, we all eat by car. We bought a new car. The leader said that he would not let us bleed and shed tears and would compensate according to the price. Listening to what he said, I feel a little more secure. I believe in the government.

It was about 4:00 a.m. on the 23rd when the car was put in. After the two cars in front were pushed in by bulldozers, the hole still couldn't be blocked. The walkie talkie shouted "let's have four more.".

At that time, the water flow was too fast and the road was too narrow. It could only accommodate a loading vehicle like me. If pushed by a bulldozer, only one vehicle could push down and the other vehicle could drive in again. It was too late, and the inertia of the vehicle entering the crevasse was not enough. I wanted to drive straight in and try to get the car to the middle of the crevasse.

We couldn't swim and were afraid of falling into the water when jumping out of the car. Just in case, we all got off and asked the armed police to help us wear life jackets. After wearing them, we didn't say anything and returned to our cab one after another.

I opened all the doors and windows in advance, grabbed a sandbag from the side, put it on the accelerator, and slowly raised the gear of the car to third gear. The speed reached more than 2000 revolutions. My right foot stepped on the sandbag, stepped on the accelerator to the bottom, and my left foot on the steps entering the cab. I leaned left and held the steering wheel with both hands.

The speed was very fast. When I was more than one meter away from the crevasse, I jumped off the car and fell into the water later. After jumping down, I lay on my ground and didn't dare to move. Because it rained and the road was slippery that day, I was afraid that I would die if I turned under the wheels. At that time, my feet were only 30 cm away from the wheels.

The car rushed into the crevasse in an instant. I got up and covered for a while. Looking at my car, the tail light was still on until it was slowly swallowed up by the water, like the sky falling down. After a few minutes, I recovered and began to shed tears.

That day, a total of seven or eight cars were thrown in. After dropping the car, we stayed at the scene to help rescue and command the remaining vehicles to unload stones. We were too busy to take care of the pain.

At about 10 a.m. on the 23rd, when we withdrew from the crevasse, people on the roadside gave us thumbs up. I smiled, but I pretended. Seeing that others can drive their own car and the lights are still on, I have an unspeakable feeling in my heart.

My license plate number is Yu fc1668.

Li Yongxiang and his car. Picture provided by the interviewee

"If I had thought a little more about my family at that time, my daughter-in-law wouldn't blame me like now?"

The car is gone, and the things on it are gone. When I put the car in, I only got my driving license. The charger, transformer, bedding and clothes were still on the car.

On the way back, I've been thinking about how to tell my daughter-in-law about it. When she got home, she had cooked dinner. When she saw me, she said, "are you back?" I said I came back. She said, "I pulled several times today. How did I come back after so long?" I didn't answer. For about two minutes, I chewed a few mouthfuls of rice, but I couldn't eat it. My tears pattered away. She asked me, "what's the matter? Is something wrong?" I said, our car drove into the river.

After listening to me, my daughter-in-law lost her temper with me. She said, "this is the lifeblood of our family. How can we live after you drive in?" I explained to her that the situation was quite urgent, it was raining, and the breach was getting bigger and bigger. I didn't think much. The leader said that if we didn't drive in, I would listen to the leader, and the leader would compensate us according to the price.

She said, "we waited two or three months and spent so much effort to buy this car. You said you voted? You are so tired that you finally bought your beloved car. What will you do in the future? The child has to go to school and the father has to take medicine. My uncle is in his 70s and follows us when he is ill. What do you do? "

I can understand her. When she got off the license plate and went through the formalities, she followed me. She didn't eat much that day and felt bad. Now think about it. If I thought a little more about my family and called my daughter-in-law, maybe she wouldn't blame me like now?

"This is the first car of its own."

I was born in 1986. I am 35 years old. There are six people in my family, my father, my wife and two sons. My mother has just died, and my uncle followed me when he was ill. My father had an operation last year. The family's economy is very tight. I rely on transportation to support my family.

I can't do anything else. I can drive. I've been doing transportation for others since 2008. At that time, I didn't have money. I just bought cars with others and didn't have my own car. This year, I borrowed more than 200000 from my relatives and friends and borrowed more than 200000 installment loans. I spent nearly 500000 on this car.

This is the first time I bought my own car when I was so old. It is my favorite car. All my possessions count on it. I threw it all at once. Who doesn't love it.

This car is a new model of Delong 3000ms, which is newly launched this year. I make a reservation in March and can't pick it up until early April. The day before I picked up the car, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night. I arrived at the car store early the next day. I still remember driving home that day. It was very pleasant all the way.

I've been thinking about this car for a long time. After buying it, I quickly went to get the license plate and spent money to install an automatic shed. When the license formalities come down, we have to apply for an operation license. Only with an operation license can we run on the road. At the end of April, the operation certificate was handled. I was very excited and finally got a sports car.

Having this car is like marrying a daughter-in-law. I treasure it every day. The first thing is to pull the soil. After pulling the soil, drain the water and wipe it with a mop and towel. If the car is dirty, wipe it with your fingers bit by bit. Also buy leather cushions to protect the car.

It's tiring to drive a large truck. It takes more than ten hours to drive during the day and night. I often can't go home. I eat and live in the car. I have bedding and clothes in the car. I soak noodles. It's just a meal with steamed bread and vegetables. Sometimes I'm not willing to eat. At my age, I already have old problems. If I'm hungry, I'll be soft and have a bad stomach. I don't earn much. Now I earn seven or eight thousand yuan a month.

Every time I finish pulling, I will sit in the car for a while. Before work, I often wipe everything in the car with a towel and take care of it. There is water in the company. Several of us also bought mops and laundry detergent. Because most of them are new cars, we want to clean and polish the cars. We all love our cars very much.

Sometimes our drivers joked: "I sleep in Delong hotel tonight." But all these disappeared with the car into the river. Now this model can't be bought. The day before yesterday, I saw someone else driving the same car as me, but mine was gone.

Yufc1668 put into the crevasse. Picture provided by the interviewee

"One more time, I'll throw in the car"

When I went to the disaster relief, my family also had water, but I didn't care. I left without hesitation after receiving the task in the company. The water level in some parts of the family has reached the knee. If the flood is discharged upstream, our village will be flooded. If the flood is not discharged, it can be saved. Now the villagers have moved to the village and resettlement sites in the village. I haven't gone back to the village to help. I'm too tired these two days.

Yesterday, I was having dinner in a small restaurant. A lady came to me and asked me, "are you the young man in the new town?" I said, "how did you know?" She said, when I saw you in the video, she gave me a thumbs up.

There are a lot of flood news in Henan on the video platform. I cried when I looked at it. Those who were washed away by the flood were very miserable. I looked sad. Some people on the Internet also commented that we are great heroes in Xinxiang and Junxian. Seeing these, the barrier in my heart has come slowly. How to say, it's really a pity to throw the car in, but there's no way. It's all for our parents and villagers. We have to plug this breach anyway.

When we came back that day, everyone was proud of us. This is also a small home to protect everyone. If the car doesn't work, I can buy it again. I still have two hands to earn. But if it is flooded here, there will be more losses, not only our cars, but even thousands of times, which is immeasurable. Again, I'll throw in the car.