New York State Parks Police said a woman who was pulled from a submerged car near the brink of Niagara Falls on Wednesday has died. Earlier in the day, a U.S. Coast Guard rescue diver deployed from a helicopter and climbed into the partially submerged car, pulling the woman out of the frigid water. Onlookers said the car was stuck on rocks about 100 feet from the edge of waterfall.
Police Capt. Chris Rola said the woman, who was in her late 60s, was unresponsive as a swimmer was eventually lowered from a Coast Guard chopper into the water to pull her from the vehicle. She was taken from the scene by an ambulance. A state parks spokeswoman later confirmed the woman had died. Rola did not say whether the woman, a local to Western New York, drove into the water intentionally or by accident, citing a pending investigation.
Rola said police first received a 911 call at 11:50 a.m. ET about a black vehicle in the Niagara River floating towards the Falls, away from a pedestrian bridge upstream. “We’ve never had a vehicle in the water this close to the brink,” Rola said. After determining someone was inside the car, officials contacted the Coast Guard, having concluded that a helicopter was the only safe means to conduct a rescue.
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