Tian Xiaomeng (middle) who saved Li and his family poses for a photo with Li and his wife in Jiangyin city in east China's Jiangsu Province on Sunday, May 22, 2016. [Photo: The Paper]

An unknown man who saved five people from a river has been identified by police in Jiangyin city in east China's Jiangsu Province, according to a Chinese digital paper, The Paper.

The unknown hero was identified as 28-year-old hairdresser Tian Xiaomeng. Tian, who is also a father of a 3-year-old boy, said he believed any passerby would have unhesitatingly jumped into the river to rescue the victims. The police said they would reward Tian's just behavior.

On May 21, a car driven by a man surnamed Li plunged into a river, after colliding with a car on a road in Jiangyin city. All of the five people in Li's car including Li, his wife, his daughter and their two nieces couldn't swim and yelled for help.

Tian was driving by, and he stopped and jumped into the river to rescue the five before driving home quietly.

In the search for the unknown hero, the local police posted online notices on its official Weibo account, a Chinese microblogging service similar to Twitter. Tian was identified on May 22. Some Internet users said they were moved by Tian who saved five people and asked for nothing in return.