Dramatic images of two policemen fearlessly saving a woman from her sinking car have been revealed.
A 63-year-old woman was believed to be just seconds from drowning when the officers smashed the window with a rock and dragged her from her car.
The incident occurred on Tuesday when her BMW drove off Fisherman’s Wharf at Northcote Point on Auckland’s North Shore, the New Zealand Herald reports.
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The dramatic moment a woman was rescued from her sinking car has been captured
Constables Paul Watts and Simon Russell dove into the water in a rescue mission as two members of the public assisted by balancing the vehicle.
Constable Watts told the newspaper: “She was quite distressed. It was pretty close, probably 30 or 40 seconds after we managed to get the female out of the car, the car was already slipping further into the water.
“I’d say she’d probably only had maximum probably a another minute, minute-and-a-half if she hadn’t got out.”
Witnesses leapt into the water to steady the car as the police carried out their rescue
Wtiness Erwin Kampos was fishing nearby when the car entered the water.
He told New Zealand’s Stuff magazine: “I went into the water and tried to smash the window. The two police officers smashed the back windscreen, I tried to smash the sides and they didn’t want to break. We were running out of time because the vehicle was filling up.
“The police officers smashed the back window and dragged the lady out.”
The woman was taken to hospital and her car sank to the bottom of the harbour.
Constable Watts told the publication the daring rescue was “pretty much part of a routine job being a police officer.”
