People crowd around the BMW car, trying to figure out a way to save the boy locked inside. [Photo/Sina weibo]

Which is more valuable: BMW or your only son?

When faced with a life threatening emergency, most people would rather save their lives than their belongings, but perhaps there are some exceptions.

A mother obviously preferred her expensive BMW over her toddler son, who was locked inside the car alone in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 11.

The boy, whose parents went out shopping, unplugged the car key, threw it out and locked the vehicle from the inside.

Two locksmiths were called to the scene but failed to unlock the car, and they both suggested smashing the window as the only solution.

However, the mother, unwilling to spend the money on window repair, refused at first, according to an Internet user who happened to witness the incident.

A firefighter finally made the move by breaking the glass. The boy was rescued after about one hour, and thanks to the Typhoon Chan-Hom, which made landfall across eastern China during the weekend, the temperature inside the car didn't pose a risk to the kid.

Firefighters have warned of the danger of leaving children alone in the car, as the temperature inside the car may be twice as high as outside in the summer, and children, if locked in the vehicle, could die within half an hour.

In our next story, new elevators are installed in old buildings to ease the 12 storey commute.