By Lai Wenyong and Yang Yubo

JINGDEZHEN, Aug. 5 -- The PLA 72nd Group Army hosted a grand ceremony to confer a first-class merit citation for Corporal Wang Liang, who is assigned to a brigade under the group army.

A car crashed and rolled into the river in Fuliang County, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, on the morning of July 12. Corporal Wang Liang was on vacation and happened to witness the incident. He rushed to the scene without delay hearing the call for help and jumped down from the nearly five-meter-high river embankment, swimming directly to the accident car.

He rescued two adults and one child in the back seats, and an elder in the front row seat. Having been underwater for a long time, the elder fell into a coma. Wang immediately performed first aid to him. It took merely more than two minutes from jumping into the water to rescuing four people in the car.

It is reported that Wang, who has served in the army for four years, is proficient in battlefield skills such as swimming in battle gear, fast-roping, field maneuvering, etc. Wang has also been honored as the Outstanding Soldier and Advanced Individual in Coastal Training.