Hero Soldier Dies After Trying to Save Third Person from Burning Apartment in China

The soldier, identified as 30-year-old Sergeant Major Li Daozhou from Wuhan, Hubei province, immediately sprung into action after he heard that his neighbor’s apartment was on fire, grabbing a fire extinguisher and rushing to the burning residence.

According to Chutian Metropolis Daily, as translated by Shanghaiist, he charged into the fiery flat in an attempt to extinguish the fire.

Shortly after he entered the building, Li came out carrying an elderly man that was trapped inside. Instead of resting or fleeing, Li again went into the burning building, only to re-emerge with the elderly man’s wife. The couple is believed to be over 80 years old, Chinamil reported.

After coming out the second time, the old man pleaded with Li to go back again and save their 51-year-old disabled daughter. As said in the report, the woman wasn’t able to move by herself due to cerebral palsy.

Li could not deny the man’s request; he went back inside for the third time without any second thoughts.

Unfortunately, after several hours had passed, Li failed to come out of the burning building. Firefighters would later find his body; he is believed to have died from smoke inhalation while carrying the woman on his back.

Li, who was on vacation at home at the time of the tragic incident, was assigned to a helicopter regiment in the PLA Air Force’s airborne brigade. He joined the military in December 2005, and in 2012, when asked on a personal file why he joined the army, he responded that he wanted to be someone who was “useful to society”.

The hero soldier leaves behind a wife, a 5-year-old son and a 9-month-old daughter.