'He disappeared': Aussie journo goes viral saving man in sinking car

A man in a sinking car in floodwaters was rescued yesterday by two bystanders - including an ABC reporter.

Will Murray's camera operator Liz Pickering captured the dramatic incident, which has now made international headlines.

When the man drove his four-wheel-drive through floodwater on Buchanan Road at Morayfield, Brisbane, it stalled and began to sink.

Murray was there, reporting on the floods. Seeing the car rapidly submerging, he did not hesitate to dive in.

With bystander Daniel Hainey, Murray swam out to the car and helped pull the driver out of the vehicle.

Hainey told The Today Show this morning, “I had to rip my shorts off” to cover his knuckles to break a window, such was the dire state of the situation. 

Hainey also told the ABC yesterday that he was out with his family when he saw the car but didn't realise someone was inside until the window moved.

"The car began to slowly sink deeper and deeper, and that's when I thought, 'Oh no, this is not looking good', so I started swimming in there," he said. 

Hainey added that the driver was "very, very lucky".

Will Murray helps rescue man from car in floodwaters

Murray told the ABC:

"I saw him drive in and immediately his car started floating downstream so I rang Triple Zero.

"On the phone the operator asked me if I could see the driver and if I thought he could get free.

"Initially I could see him, but he disappeared from my sight within seconds so I made the call to jump in.

"When we got to the car we tried to open the closest door, no luck, then got on the back of the car with the thought to break the back window.

“I thought to try the passenger side rear door first and put my feet against the car and pulled as hard as I could and with some luck the door swung open.”

“We were just so relieved”

Of the moment after the rescue, Murray said, “All three of us gave each other a big hug and were just so relieved.”

"It was very scary, but happy everyone is safe and relieved it is OK.

“I just witnessed how quickly it can go south and it is terrifying. Please don't drive into floodwaters.”

The Queensland Fire Department advises all residents not to swim in floodwater.

"We were chatting with the man and he was saying he didn't see the signage and didn't realise how deep it was," Murray said.

"I had no idea how deep it was and that's the lesson we keep hearing, isn't it, that you can't tell and you really couldn't; it didn't look particularly severe.

“But as you can see in the vision, the car completely disappears, it's clearly very deep in the middle there.”