NANJING, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Yao Xiaobing, a crane operator from east China's Jiangsu Province, became a hero after he used his vehicle to rescue four people from a bus that fell into a river.

Since the video showing his heroism went viral online Saturday, it has been viewed more than 40 million times and attracted hundreds of thousands of comments.

The bus drove off the road and fell into a canal after it collided head on with a sports utility vehicle at around 2 p.m. Wednesday in Changzhou City, Jiangsu.

"I was having a rest in my crane after I finished working at a nearby construction site. I heard a loud crash," said Yao, who has been a crane operator for more than 10 years.

He dashed across the road to the river bank to check what had happened. He ran back to his crane and drove it over to the bank, hoisting the four people up from the bus and laying them down in a safe place.

"The river bank is three or four meters above the water level. It was difficult for people in the bus to climb to the road. I came up with the idea to winch them up," said Yao.

"We deeply appreciate this crane driver. He saved us all," said Shen, the bus driver.

Yao left the site of the accident without identifying himself, but after days of searching, local media finally found him. He was praised as a hero by Chinese netizens.

"The crane driver is so cool! China needs such heroes," wrote a Sina Weibo user with the screenname "Haoxiansheng HD."

But Yao himself downplayed his courageous act.

"It's all over. It's good to see they are all right," he said.