Hero in Brazil plucks mom and two children from car after family became trapped in dangerous floodwaters

A young man is being hailed a hero after he rescued a woman and her one-year-old twin daughters trapped in their car from being swept by a flood in Rio de Janeiro

Marcos de Souza, 29, was in a bus heading home when the driver took a detour due to heavy rain in the town of Nova Iguaçu on Wednesday night and suddenly heard people from a passing gym screaming that a car with people inside was being dragged by the flood waters.

That's when de Souza leapt into action, after the bus pulled up next to the car in distress as it was approaching. 

Dramatic footage showed de Souza planting his leg on top of the rear left tire and grabbing Brenda and Beatriz Mendes and passing them over to one of the bus passengers.

'I didn't even think twice, I just acted,' he told Brazilian news outlet G1. 'The car was approaching, and I managed to put my foot down and help the lady and her two daughters.'

Marcos de Souza hands over one of the two one-year-old twin sisters he rescued along with their mother on Wednesday night after they got stuck in their family car on a Rio de Janeiro street that was flooded

Marcos de Souza (right) reunited with Jorge Mendes and Berlandia Mendes on Thursday, a day after he save her and her twin daughters from being dragged away by a flood in Rio de Janeiro after she and her children got stuck inside the family car 

De Souza could be seen in the video handing over backpacks containing the family's possessions.

He he reached out for Berlandia Mendes and told her 'take my hand' before he helped her on to the bus.

Mendes' car was swept down the streets moments soon after she stepped inside the bus.

'I was thinking about it for a long time, that in a matter of seconds a tragedy didn't happen,' de Souza said. 'She thanked me very much, she said that she had no words for what I did, that I saved her life. I told her that I only did what had to be done.'

The bus de Souza was traveling on suffered a mechanical failure because of the flood water and passengers had to wait for the arrival of another bus to continue their travel.

Berlandia Mendes and her one-year-old twin daughters were rescued by a bus passenger when she got stuck in the family vehicle while flood waters rushed down a Rio de Janeiro street on Wednesday

De Souza elected to walk home in the rain and found his home and his aunts' house - which is located next to his - partially flooded with severed damage to the furniture and electrical appliances.

His life-changing actions did not go unnoticed, and donations poured into a crowdfunding account to help him and his family.

Mendes and her husband, Jorge Mendes, reunited with de Souza on Thursday and thanked for rescuing her and the children.

'This is my angel, who saved my life,' Mendes said. 'God sent him to save my life and the lives of my daughters.'

The storm claimed the lives of three residents in the Rio de Janeiro region, including two people after their home collapsed in the town of Japeri.