Turks hailed as heroes after they drag Vienna injured to safety

Recep Gültekin was shot in the leg as he helped others to safety

Credit: Instagram

Two members of Austria’s Turkish immigrant community were hailed as heroes after they risked their own lives to rescue an elderly woman and a police officer during the terror attack in Vienna.

Mikail Özen and Recep Gültekin were on their way out for a last coffee before Austria’s new coronavirus lockdown when they heard gunfire.

The two young men, both mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, rushed to the scene where they found an elderly woman injured.

Mr Gültekin was shot in the leg as they carried her to safety in a nearby restaurant. “When I turned around, the terrorist took aim at me. We came eye to eye,” he told Turkish television.

Mr Özen (pictured) and Mr Gültekin are both MMA fighters

Credit: Instagram

“I rolled on the ground and ran zigzag to the police station and told them what was happening.”

The two men’s night of drama was not over. As they left the police station shots rang out again. They saw an injured police officer lying motionless on the ground and carried him to safety.

“We didn’t think about the danger. We just had to do something. We had to help,” Mr  Özen told Germany’s Bild newspaper.

Footage of the two young men was widley shared on social media and some initially mistook them for terrorists.

But as it became clear what they had done they won widespread praise. “Respect to the two boys from Vienna, Mikail and Recep, who risked their own lives to carry an injured policeman to safety,” Mustafa Durmus, a local politician, tweeted.

“We Muslims of Turkish descent abhor any kind of terror. We stand by Austria, we stand by Vienna. We are always ready to help,” Mr Özen said.