Heroic Spanish farmers pull survivors from Seville plane crash
Spanish authorities have praised the actions of four farm workers who helped pull two survivors of the military plane crash near Seville airport to safety.
Four of the six test flight crew members were killed in the crash on Saturday as the Airbus A400M underwent flight trials.
It destroyed a high-tension electricity pylon before crashing into a field, killing four of the people on board.
Farmer Francisco Miranda Escudero told Spanish media how he and fellow worker Manuel Iglesias saw two people crawling out from under a broken fuselage before jumping up to five metres to the ground.
The two owners of the field joined the pair in helping drag the men to safety, and they were taken to hospital with serious injuries, reports Independent.ie.
The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, has personally thanked the men for their actions.
He posted a picture on Twitter of his meeting with Iglesias, and called him "a hero for us all".
Charlando con Manuel, el agricultor que ha salvado a los heridos del A400M en Sevilla. Un héroe para todos nosotros pic.twitter.com/JqLbTF7gvW
- Mariano Rajoy Brey (@marianorajoy) May 9, 2015
According to the Guardian, Mr Escudero said of the incident: "The flames were horrifying and the continuous explosions tremendous."
The A400M was developed by Airbus to replace the ageing Hercules transport planes.
Both Britain and Germany have since grounded their fleets' A400Ms, and France will limit their use until a full investigation into the Spanish crash has been carried out.
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