Car sinks into 2m-deep water

Racing journalist Michael Lee was walking home from dinner when he heard a loud crash.

He turned around just in time to see a car crash past the barrier of a canal.

"There was a very loud splash when the car fell in but after that, nothing," he said.

"The car disappeared very quickly. I was shocked."

Mr Lee, 47, told The New Paper that he then ran to a police post at an HDB block about 20m away where police officers helped call Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) rescuers.

BODIES EXTRICATED

The incident happened just after 9pm yesterday at the Alexandra Canal, next to Valley Point Shopping Centre.

The canal leads to the Singapore River.

Divers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart) had to manually extricate two women from the car, which was fully submerged in the murky water.

They managed to retrieve the bodies at about 9.45pm.

Paramedics pronounced both women dead at the scene.

Witnesses said the silver convertible sedan ran over some bushes and crossed a pedestrian path before crashing past a safety barrier into the canal.

TNP understands that the car was driving out of a basement carpark whose exit was perpendicular to the canal.

The road turns sharply right to a pick-up area for the shopping mall before going out to the main road.

A man, who was visibly distraught, was later seen identifying the bodies underneath blue police tents.

Kneeling by the tent, he spent about five minutes with the bodies.

At about 11.45pm, an older couple arrived at the scene.

The woman could be heard sobbing loudly when shown the two bodies, which were taken away at about 12.30am.

Four tow trucks from T-Zone Towing and Recovery Service were at the scene at about midnight.

At about 1am, the tow trucks drove to the side of the canal to retrieve the vehicle.

A staff member was lowered into the water to attach a harness to the car. The vehicle was finally recovered at 1.50am.

Its airbags were deployed and the boot had popped open.

The case has been handed to the police for investigation.

lawsm@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on January 25, 2016.
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