The Delaware State Police is investigating an auto accident that sent a vehicle into the C & D Canal Sunday.
Officials with the Delaware State Police said that a witness reported a vehicle entering the water at around 9:40 this morning.
When Troopers arrived on scene, a 16-year-old girl, found on the bank of the canal, told them that the 18-year-old driver helped her out of the vehicle after the car entered the water and then went back to save the other occupants. Officials said he was found deceased at the scene.
At a 5:00 press conference on Sunday, Troopers reported that the vehicle had been located at around 3:00 and that crews were working at the scene.
Shortly after the press conference, follow-up reports from the scene indicated that the vehicle had been recovered. The reports also indicated that two additional occupants were found deceased and the fifth occupant remains unaccounted for.
A spokesman for the state police said that two 16-year-olds, a 12-year-old, a 6-year-old, and an 18-year-old were in the vehicle when it entered the water.
Troopers have now confirmed that the Chevy HHR was removed from the water. Upon the vehicle being removed from the water, the 16-year-old and the 12-year-old were located still in the vehicle and subsequently pronounced deceased. The 6-year-old was not located in the vehicle and remains unaccounted for.
This is a developing story.
Check back for additional details.
Breaking Report
Delaware authorities are working to recover a vehicle that went into the C & D Canal early Sunday morning.
Just before 9:40, this morning Kent County emergency center (Kent Center) received a call from a witness that told 911 dispatchers a vehicle had entered the C & D Canal.
Rescue crews from across New Castle County were simultaneously alerted and immediately responded to the south side of the canal, about a mile west of the Roth Bridge.
As Troopers and rescue crews responded to the scene the caller alerted Kent Center that five people were in the vehicle and it was sinking.
Upon their arrival, crews confirmed that the vehicle was occupied. Just after that report a State Trooper and a firefighter jumped into the canal, however, it’s not clear if they made contact with any of the patients.
The Delaware State Police issued the following statement ” Multiple police, fire, maritime and EMS agencies are currently on scene of an incident that occurred at approximately 9:41 a.m., Sunday, October 6, 2019, in which a single vehicle entered the water on the south side of the C&D canal approximately 1 mile west of the SR 1 (Roth) Bridge.
This is an active operation and the investigation is in the early stages. Further details will be released as they become available.”
