Three dead, two injured in water rescue
Tuesday December 17, 2002CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) Three women were dead and two others were in serious condition after their vehicle was swept down a swollen creek, authorities said.
The accident occurred about 9 p.m. Monday as a vehicle carrying five women was attempting to cross Sunny Creek, said Carlsbad Fire Battalion Chief Tom Dana. Heavy rains had filled the creek and the vehicle became stalled midway in its crossing.
The women, who were not immediately identified, tried to exit the vehicle by opening its doors, Dana said. The vehicle flooded, flipped upside down and was swept 50 feet downstream before becoming lodged in the center of the stream.
Two of the females were able to exit the vehicle and stand on top of the vehicle. The three others remained trapped inside.
The Encinitas Fire Department and Camp Pendleton swift-water rescue teams responded, rescued the two females from the top of the vehicle with ropes.
The two women were taken to Tri City Hospital in stable condition, Dana said. The three others died at the scene.
The vehicle had come to rest in a ``very dense, thick shoreline,'' requiring rescue personnel to use chainsaws to get to the females.
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