SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. — A driver plunged his car into the water in Sunny Isles Beach on Sunday, and a witness who saw it all happen jumped right in to save a couple who was trapped inside.
Water poured out of the Tesla as crews pulled it from the canal after the crash.
It plunged into the water around 6:15 p.m. after witnesses say the driver sped through the security gate of a nearby building.
“This is unbelievable. This is unreal to me. It all happened so fast, you know?” Emmanuel Machado, who jumped into the canal to save the victims, said.
Machado was working at the security gate and watched it all happen. He didn’t hesitate to jump in to help the man and woman inside the vehicle.
“You know, I didn’t think of nothing else,” he said. “I just took my shirt off, I just jumped into the water, (and) I told him to bring the window down because they were trying to open the door.”
Machado said he then helped pull the woman through her window and get her to safety.
Photos taken at the scene show the car floating in the water. Another picture taken just a few minutes later shows it at the bottom of the canal.
A dive team showed up around 8:30 p.m. to hook the car to a tow truck and remove it.
The couple is OK, but Machado says this is a night he won’t soon forget.
“I’m kind of still in shock. I’m still in shock, brother,” he said. “I don’t know.”
Police are investigating what caused the driver to crash into the canal.
The identities of the driver and passenger have not been released.
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