Novato Man Killed In Crash Into Canal In Marin County

MARIN COUNTY, CA — A driver who died in a crash into a canal off of Bel Marin Keys Boulevard near Novato has been identified as 25-year-old Novato resident Kunal Vinay Pradhan, the Marin County Coroner's Office said.

The crash was reported around 8:45 p.m. Sunday on the road about a mile south of state Route 37 and two miles east of Highway 101.

"Per witness accounts moments before the collision, a Honda Civic sedan vehicle was observed traveling eastbound on the roadway at a high rate of speed, when for unknown reasons failed to slow or stop prior to the roadway terminating," Chief Deputy Coroner Roger G. Fielding said. "The vehicle then left the roadway surface, collided with multiple fixed objects before coming to rest fully submerged in the navigational loch waterway of the lagoon, which leads to the San Pablo Bay."

A dive team responded to determine if anyone was in the vehicle, which was completely submerged, California Highway Patrol Officer Andrew Barclay said. The divers found Pradhan dead inside the car.

"At approximately 10:34 p.m., the subject was successfully extricated from the underwater vehicle, brought to land and remained in cardiopulmonary arrest," Fielding said. "Sadly, due to his prolonged water submersion his death was pronounced on the scene without further resuscitative aid provided."

No other details about the crash were immediately available from the CHP.