1 Dead After Car Plunges Into Mount Vernon Canal

MOUNT VERNON, NY — FDNY and Mount Vernon firefighters were on the scene of an SUV submerged in the canal near the Fulton Avenue Bridge.

Officials say there was one person in the vehicle when it plunged into the water early Friday morning and that one body was recovered from the canal.

Rescuers were called to the canal on a report that a car had driven through a fence and into the canal near the BJ's gas station in Pelham Manor just before 9 a.m. Friday. The gray SUV quickly became submerged in the murky water.

The rescue turned recovery operation involved fire and law enforcement personnel from Mount Vernon, Pelham Manor and New York City.

FDNY boats were on the scene of an SUV that was submerged in the canal near the Fulton Avenue Bridge between Mount Vernon and Pelham Manor. (Jeff Edwards)

Officials say one body was recovered at the scene. (Jeff Edwards)

A gray SUV was lifted from the water after driving through a fence at the BJ's gas station in Pelham Manor. (Jeff Edwards)

The Fulton Avenue Bridge was closed to traffic for much of Friday morning as rescue crews searched in the water below. (Jeff Edwards)

“We saw the car sitting there and slowly it was capsizing this way and going down,” eyewitness Damien Castori told reporters at the scene. “I’m shaking because you couldn’t do anything. You had to just sit here and watch somebody die.”

According to officials, the person declared dead at the scene was a female victim of the accident. A Pelham Manor police officer who attempted to save the driver of the SUV was also treated at the hospital. There were no other reported injuries.