Young man stops runaway school bus in Minnesota and saves 19 children, says a Quran verse inspired him

A young man in Minnesota, in the United States, has saved the lives of 19 children by stopping a school bus that was veering out of control after its driver suddenly fell ill. Leaping aboard the moving bus, he pulled the emergency brake and brought it to a halt. He later said he was inspired by a verse of the Holy Quran which says that saving one life is as if saving all of mankind.

The incident happened on Monday afternoon in St Paul, Minnesota. Ebro Ahmed, 27, was on a break outside his family's convenience store, Ya Bricks Snacks and Tobacco, playing with a football and looking at his phone. Just then he saw a yellow school bus pass in front of him with its door open.

Ahmed said that seeing foam coming from the driver's mouth, he understood something seriously wrong had happened, possibly a seizure. Reacting instinctively, he ran towards the bus, jumped in through the door and, to free his hands, threw his phone and glasses to two girls sitting at the front.

At first he thought he would somehow put the bus into park gear. But amid the screams of panicking children around him, Ahmed pulled the bus's emergency brake. The vehicle stopped without anyone on board or on the road being hurt. After stopping the bus, he asked one of the children to phone for emergency help. The whole incident was captured on the store's CCTV camera.

The St Paul public school district confirmed in a statement on Friday that a medical emergency had occurred on the bus outside the Ahmed family store that day and that paramedics had to attend. The district said another bus was later sent to take the 19 students on board safely home. The driver was taken to hospital, treated and released, and is now resting at home.

After local media obtained and broadcast footage of Ahmed running and boarding the moving bus, the video spread rapidly on social media. In an interview outside the family store in St Paul on Friday, Ahmed said he is a numbers person and this number made sense to him. He had not done it for himself; in his words, it was a selfless act in God's name.

Ahmed also said the famous medical TV drama Grey's Anatomy had taught him what to do in situations you never imagine facing. But in that Monday moment, as he decided to intervene, the Quranic words came to his mind — whoever saves a life, it is as if he has saved all of mankind. It is part of verse 32 of Surah Al-Ma'idah of the Holy Quran.

According to the National Safety Council, about 23 million children travel by school bus every day across the United States. The number is so large that driver-related emergencies are not unusual from time to time. In such incidents, quick-thinking passers-by who act fast often help avert major disasters — as Ahmed's case shows.

In the interview Ahmed also spoke of his family's difficult period. The US-born young man's parents are immigrants from the East African country of Eritrea. He said that during President Donald Trump's second term, amid mass deportation drives and the operation called Operation Metro, after federal immigration agents began raids in St Paul and neighbouring Minneapolis, sales at their store fell. As a small East African business, he said, the time had been very hard.

In gratitude for the rescue, a local marketing and media company gave Ahmed a prize of 1,000 dollars. He has been invited to speak at at least one panel discussion, and a city council member contacted him to offer congratulations. An uncle living in Europe also phoned him after seeing the news.

Ahmed said that through this opportunity he has been able to present Eritreans and East Africans in a beautiful and positive light. His story has resonated across Eritrean social media. Speaking with emotion, he said he was truly proud to have represented his people positively before everyone.