An 86-year-old woman drowned Friday night at the Des Moines Marina after the sport utility vehicle she was riding in drove off the dock and plunged into the Puget Sound.
The driver, a 76-year-old man, survived the 8:45 p.m. incident. The man told Des Moines Police he had just pulled into a parking space when he accidentally stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake, according to a press release.
The SUV, a Subaru Forrester, traveled over a parking curb and through a metal and wood railing before entering the water, estimated at about 12 feet deep.
Four onlookers jumped into the water in an attempt to rescue the couple. They were able to pull the man through the open driver’s side window before the vehicle sunk. The driver was taken to Highline Medical Center in Burien with non life-threatening injuries, according to the press release.
The rescuers were unable to get the woman out of the SUV until the Renton Fire Department dive team arrived. The dive team removed the woman from the vehicle at 9:15 p.m., but efforts by paramedics to revive the woman were unsuccessful.
A small dog inside the vehicle also drowned.
Three of the people who jumped into the water to help were evaluated by paramedics, who transferred one person to St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way for possible hypothermia.
As of Monday morning, the identifications of the man and the woman had not been released.
The incident remained under investigation Monday by the Des Moines Police and the Washington State Patrol.
Police were asked by fire officials to help manage the large crowd at the marina to keep the people away from the rescue scene.
Boy, 14, drowns at Kent-Meridian Park
A 14-year-old boy drowned Friday after he began to struggle while swimming at Kent’s Lake Meridian Park. The boy was under water for an estimated 29 minutes before rescuers brought him to shore. Emergency personnel were called in at 6:30 p.m., after witnesses saw the boy go under.
Paramedics were able to resuscitate the boy and he was taken by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died, said Kyle Ohashi, spokesman for the Kent Fire Department.
Witnesses told fire officials that the boy had been swimming with friends in the marked swimming area of the park when he started to struggle in the water, according to a Kent Fire Department media release.
In addition to Kent personnel, dive teams from the Renton Fire Department and Valley Regional Fire Authority responded. Divers found the boy in about 15 feet of water.
As of Monday morning, the boy’s name had not been released by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
City of Kent lifeguards did not start work for the summer season until Saturday, so no lifeguards were on duty, according to the media release.
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