Viral Video Shows Woman Pulled From Submerged Car At The Edge Of The Niagara Falls
A tragic end to a heroic rescue.
Twitter A woman was found dead Wednesday afternoon after a US coast guard dived into the water near the brink of Niagara falls when a car became submerged.
The identity of the woman has not been released yet, but it’s reported that she was believed to be in her late 60s.
People in the area had started calling authorities after noticing the black vehicle floating down the Niagara River.
“Today, we mourn the loss of a life,” US Coast Guard Great Lakes tweeted. “We commend the readiness and courage demonstrated today by our crew to effect an 80ft. hoist from a submerged vehicle 20 yards from the top of Niagara Falls in foul weather.”
A viral video shows the woman being pulled from her car near the Niagara Falls
Photos and videos from the scene show the car fully submerged with the trunk open as the vehicle became hung up on rocks about 50 yards from the edge of the Falls.
New York State Park Police Capt. Chris Rola said that swift-rescue crews couldn’t reach the car due to “inherent danger” and called the US Coast Guard to help.
Temperatures in the area were reported to be around freezing and water temperatures were about 43 degrees.
Images on social media show the coast guard, petty officer second class Derrian Duryea, in an orange suit and a helmet, struggling against the heavy winds and water to try and reach the passenger side of the car.
Duryea had been entirely focused on the black vehicle as he was being lowered from a helicopter over the water.
“As I was coming down I was just really focused on how am I going to get in this car when there’s, you know, pretty much rapids coming over the car right next to Niagara Falls,” Duryea said in an interview with KTLA. ”My sole focus was which window or door am I going in.”
The car doors had been unlocked saving Duryea from having to break any windows, and he was able to open the passenger side door and push it up against the current.
With an axe in his left hand and after slowly spinning and swinging past the car, Duryea had been able to grab hold of the passenger door and disappear inside.
It was about two minutes later when Duryea emerged from the car, signaling the helicopter to hoist him and the unresponsive driver from the water.
The woman in the car had been pronounced dead after being taken ashore.
Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, tweeted out that she was “saddened by the tragic loss of life” and gave thanks to the “swift and heroic actions” of the emergency crew members.
Niagara Falls, which is on the brink between upstate New York and Canada, is known to attract people wanting to jump over the waterfall, called the “Daredevils of Niagara Falls.”
However, this is the first time a vehicle has been so close to the edge.
Officials believe the woman had been the only person in the car and was a local in the area.
They believe the car had entered the river through an area between a pedestrian bridge and the vehicle bridge.
Investigators are still trying to determine whether the car had ended up in the water by accident or intentionally, especially because the roads had been slick because of light snowfall.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.