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Car jumps snow bank, gets submerged in Grand River

First responders found the car upside down, sinking into the water 150 feet from the riverbank with a person trapped inside.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A car was pulled out of the Grand River Saturday morning after driving off a nearby road, the Grand Rapids Fire Department says.

Dispatch says the car jumped a snowbank behind the Radisson Hotel, located at 270 Ann Street NW. The car was found upside down, sinking into the water 150 feet from the riverbank with a person trapped inside.

When the water rescue team approached the car, they learned the person was stuck in an air pocket. The person was successfully removed from the car and was responsive and talking before heading to the hospital for evaluation.

There were no other occupants in the car.

With the help of a local towing company, Bud's Wrecker Service, crews were able to pull the car from the river.

This is the first Fire Department Dive Team rescue since September. The tools used were newly acquired by a FEMA grant. 

GRFD Deputy Chief Jack Johnson later released a statement about the rescue on Facebook:

"We couldn’t do this without the investment from the city and our special operations personnel. 10 minutes from the 911 call we had a swimmer in the river. 10 minutes later, with the use of our new battery powered extrication tools they had the car opened up (under water) and the single victim removed. 7 minutes after that, on their first deployment as a dive team, they had a secondary dive search completed with no other victims found.

The GRFD truly is second to none."

    

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