Buddhist Monks Rescue Plane Crash Victims Moments Before Plane Explodes

By C Barnett --
12 Aug 2016 --

Monks honored as heroes after risking their lives to rescue victims of a plane crash.

The Buddhist Monks have always been viewed by people as calm, peaceful and meditative. Perhaps their strong awareness is what helped the monks of the Palyul Temple Buddhist center in McDonough, NY, quickly spring into action with a selfless and daring act which resulted in saving lives from a plane crash.

Buddhist Monks Rescue Plane Crash Victims Moments Before Plane Explodes[/tweetthis]

Few would think that passengers on a plane would walk out of a crash unharmed. The heroes at the Buddhist temple have done the impossible in a way that has even been described as “miraculous.” Even as onlookers watched the plane as it came down crashing, too stunned to react, a monk from Hong Kong, Lama Jimi, aged 30, risked his life and rushed to the site of the crash to rescue the people. Jimi says that when he got to site, the plane was on fire and smoking, suspended from the trees. The plane was a small, one engine plane carrying four passengers. One of them, a little girl, was badly injured and could not even walk on her own. The girl had lots of smoke in her lungs and mouth, he added. Jimi and the others quickly put themselves in harm's way by pulling out the passengers one by one.

The rescuers had just managed to save the passengers when the plane exploded, say the witnesses. Describing it as a “miracle,” witnesses only shudder to think what would have happened if they had been late by just another few minutes. Ogyen Tashi, a very active monk from Toronto, describes the fire as being really big, smoke-filled and black. There is no doubt that if the passengers were stuck in the plane for any longer, they would have gone up in flames too and so would have Jimi and the other rescuers.

Buddhist Monks Help Rescue 4 Passengers from Fiery Plane Crash in Chenango County https://t.co/VV5bjbWlma ?
— Mary (@MaryWakulik) August 11, 2016

Despite the ordeal of struggling through the forest, with an added disadvantage of thick, black smoke, the rescuers are glad that they were successful. Jimi described this event as a terrible one, though he is extremely glad that all the passengers are unharmed.

The temple was conducting one of its retreats, which is why a number of people were present at the place. The temple regularly conducts month-long retreats that is attended by people from different faiths from across the globe. The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Meanwhile, the area has been roped off as it still contains harmful chemicals and metal pieces.