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IMMIGRANT

‘I may be poor but I have a heart’: Costa Blanca’s street hawker tells of saving man from building

The Senegalese street seller who rescued a man from a burning building in Denia on the Costa Blanca said he isn’t a hero and only did what any what good human would do.

Published: 9 December 2019 16:41 CET
'I may be poor but I have a heart': Costa Blanca's street hawker tells of saving man from building
Gorgui with his girlfriend Gana and their 7-month old daughter, Ndeye, in Denia. Photo: Roberta Etter

The story of the heroic rescue made headlines in Spain and sparked a search to find the man who was thought to be a mantero, the term used for street vendors who sell goods such as jewellery, fake designer bags and football shirts, in public spaces on blankets (mantas in Spanish).

He rushed to the rescue of Alex, a 39-year-old who was almost bed-ridden after a long illness, scaled a wall to reach his balcony and hoisted him over his shoulder to bring him to safety.

Eyewitnesses said the man disappeared before anyone could catch his name or even say thank-you.


Gorgui scaled up the wall 'like spiderman', hoisted Alex over his shoulders and brought him to safety. Photo: Roberta Etter

READ ALSO:  'Thank you, you're a hero': Costa Blanca man saved from burning building by mystery street seller

The Local tracked him down thanks to Roberta Etter, a neighbour who raised the alarm about the fire and photographed the rescue.

She was walking through the port of Denia when she thought she saw a familiar face and approached the man who confirmed he was indeed the man involved in the rescue.

Speaking on the phone on Monday afternoon the man told The Local that his name was Gorgui Lamine Sow.

He revealed that he was an illegal immigrant who had arrived in Spain on a boat from the West coast of Africa two and a half years ago when he was just 17 years old.

“I came with nothing and I’ve been working top manta just to survive,” said Gorgui, who rents a room with his girlfriend Gana, whom he met not long after he arrived in Spain.

The pair now have a seven-month old daughter, Ndeye.


Gorgui with his girlfriend and their 7-month old daughter in Denia. Photo: Roberta Etter

“It’s a very small room in Gandia and we come every day to sell in the port of Denia,” he said. “It's true, life is hard.”

He described how last Thursday he had been walking the streets when he heard a commotion and saw smoke billowing out of a first floor window.

“I was walking past and saw a man in a window with flames all around him. People on the ground said he couldn’t walk and they couldn’t reach him.”

“I didn’t think, I just climbed up to get him.”

“It’s true that I am poor, that I don’t have money but I have a heart,” he said in Spanish. “I have a heart that wants to help people and I knew I could save him.”

“A hero? I  just did what any good human would do.”

“Once I brought him to the ground and saw people were looking after him, I washed my hands at a neighbour’s house and then I left. It’s a long journey back to Gandia and there aren’t so many buses.”

Gorgui said he had spoken to the man he rescued and is glad to hear that he is out of hospital.

“He was treated for burns but is he ok now,” the 20-year-old said. “I spoke to him on the telephone and I hope we will meet again when he is back in Denia.”

READ ALSO:  'Thank you, you're a hero': Costa Blanca man saved from burning building by mystery street seller

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NORWAY

Over one in ten children live in low-income households in Norway

The proportion of children who live in low-income households has increased steadily since 2011, rising to just over one-in-ten, according to a report from Statistics Norway.

Published: 29 March 2021 16:10 CEST
Over one in ten children live in low-income households in Norway
Photo: Annie Spratt on Unsplash

The report found that there a total of 115,000 children belong to households in low-income groups. This is around 11 percent of all children in Norway.

“Studies show that people born into low-income families have in increased risk of being left behind in several areas of living, among other things, growing up in low-income shows a connection with negative health outcomes. It has been shown that young people’s mental health is affected by belonging to a low-income family,” the report states.

In its article on the data, Statistics Norway defines “persistent low income” households as having “under 60 percent of [national] median average [income] over three years”.

Children with an immigrant background have accounted for more than half the children from persistent low-income groups since 2013. This is despite only accounting for 18 percent of all children. Nearly 40 percent of children with immigrant backgrounds belong to low-income households, according to the Statistics Norway figures.

“This has a clear connection with the fact that households with a weak connection to the labour market are exposed to low income,” the report said.

Families with a Syrian background had the highest proportion of low-income households with almost nine-out-of-ten children coming from low-income families. Meanwhile, the largest group of children in number are those with a Somali background with over 11,000 of these children living in low-income households. Children with an Eritrean background saw the largest jump.

READ ALSO: Immigrants in Norway more likely to be affected by loneliness 

The report indicated that the reason behind these groups having large numbers of children belonging to low-income households was because the average number of people in the household with an occupation was less than one between 2017 and 2019.

Those with Lithuanian and Polish backgrounds saw decreases of children in low-income households. Children from these countries, as well as Sri Lanka, India and Bosnia-Herzegovina averaged 1.5 people employed in the household in the same period.  

Single parents are much more likely to be found in low-income groups, as are families with three or more children. 

The areas with the largest municipalities were most exposed to low income. Sarpsborg, in southern Norway, overtook Drammen as the municipality with the largest proportion of low-income children with 19.1 percent.

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