Coast Guard pulls body from submerged vehicle above Niagara Falls
A U.S. Coast Guard diver has pulled a body from a submerged vehicle stuck in rushing rapids just yards from the brink of Niagara Falls, The Associated Press reported.
New York State Park Police (NYSPP) officials said Wednesday that the diver was lowered from a hovering helicopter and climbed into a vehicle submerged near the falls to pull out the woman inside, discovering that she was already dead.
Both the diver and the body were then hoisted back up to the helicopter, according to The AP.
NYSPP authorities identified the car’s late occupant as a woman in her 60s, saying that she had lived in the area.
The car was believed to have entered the river from a pedestrian bridge, near which witnesses reported seeing the vehicle floating.
Bystanders took photos and videos of the car when it was nearly fully submerged, with only its roof and an open trunk hatch visible amid the rapids near the falls.
According to the AP, roads in the area were slippery due to a light snowfall. The circumstances leading to the car being in the river were not clear.
“It was an incredible job by the Coast Guard,” NYSPP Capt. Christopher Rola said at a news conference.
After the woman’s body was recovered, the vehicle remained 50 yards from the brink of the American Falls, one of the three waterfalls that make up the river, the AP reported. Bystanders watched rescue crews try to pull the vehicle out of the water.
Rola said the department’s rescue team wasn’t able to get to the car due to its location, per the AP.