A Saudi student who arrived in the UK only five months ago has been praised as a hero after he saved a man from drowning.
Turki Al Shammari, a student at the University of Central Lancashire, was walking by a river in Preston in north-west England when he heard someone calling out for help.
Dean Lowe, who is a father, had jumped into the water to try to rescue the family dog but got into trouble in the strong and cold current.
Mr Al Shammari, 27, said he jumped into the river as soon as he saw Mr Lowe “fighting for his life”.
"Without thinking, without hesitating, I immediately jumped in and tried my best to help him. I'm glad I did," he told The National.
“I didn’t have time to think, I just took action.”
Mr Al Shammari, a keen swimmer, said he struggled for about 15 minutes to pull Mr Lowe to safety before police and paramedics arrived.
“As a human being, as a Saudi citizen, I’m honoured to have the chance to help a human,” he said.
“That means a lot to me and I feel like I’ve gained a family here.”
Mr Al Shammari said saving a life made him the happiest he had felt since arriving in the UK during Covid-19 lockdown.
Mr Lowe’s partner Jessica Williams praised him for his quick-thinking and perseverance under trying conditions.
“Turki … is a hero and a beautiful man. He saved Dean Lowe’s life. He saved Ella’s father, my partner,” she wrote on Facebook.
“We couldn’t thank him enough.”
Prince Khalid bin Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the UK, called Mr Al Shammari to thank him for his efforts.
“The ambassador was delighted to be able to speak with Turki Al Shammari, a young Saudi student who bravely jumped into a river to save the life of a man in Preston,” the Saudi embassy said on Twitter.
Mr Al Shammari said he was glad Mr Lowe was alive and well, but that the dog was still missing.
He said people must always rush to help if they see someone in danger.
“If you have a chance to help, please don’t hesitate.”
The specs
Engine 60kwh FWD
Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power 204hp Torque 360Nm
Price, base / as tested Dh174,500
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Director: Guy Ritchie
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Three out of five stars
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Cabriolet
Price, base: Dh429,090
Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 510hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 700Nm @ 1,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.2L / 100km
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Company%20Profile
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Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
