German town honours Kurdish immigrant who rescued family from fire

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A Kurdish immigrant in Germany was honoured as a hero and given an award this week after rescuing a family from a fire last summer.

In July 2020, Mohammad Hamo, 39, rescued a neighbouring family from a burning house in the town of Tuttlingen. On Thursday, the mayor Emil Buschle gave him a medal. 

Buschle told Hamo “you are a hero,” when presenting him with the medal.

“You saved lives with your commitment – I can only take my hat off,” Buschle said. 

Hamo is originally from Afrin, Syria. He recounted the night of the rescue to Rudaw.

“I knocked on the door of the house, and they did not open up, so I broke the door down and told them that their house is on fire,” Hamo told Rudaw’s Dilbxwin Dara on Saturday.

The house was full of smoke and the fire was spreading when he entered, but every member of the family escaped unharmed. 

“After that, the family came to my house and thanked me, saying that if it were not for you, we might have been dead,” he said.

Hamo has been living in Tuttlingen for 18 years. He said that his relationship with his neighbors has grown stronger since the fire.