Mr Kawar, who has more than 20 years of experience working in security, said Mr Perry, 45, was asking for his wife. He wanted his telephone to contact her but it was in his Ford Focus, which was quickly becoming engulfed in flames.

He later told friends who have spoken to The Telegraph how he tried to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher but feared the car’s petrol tank could ignite. His battle with the blaze was captured on hospital CCTV.

A friend said he had explained how he feared a pregnant woman or mother with a young baby could have been in the back of the car.

“All he wanted to do was reach the passenger and get them to safety. He had no idea that there was a man inside potentially with more explosives or the peril he was in,” the friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

“The car became engulfed in flames. He was just trying to get to the passenger, but it was too hot. He couldn’t see inside because the fire became so intense.”

Mr Kawar said his “heart sank” when he learned a passenger had died in the back of the car, but the friend said: “But now he knows the man had a bomb with him, Richie keeps asking: ‘Why?’ He doesn’t know how to feel about it all.”