N.J. woman dies after car plunges into Delaware
The front end of the car had broken through the ice, the driver had fled the scene, but the female passenger was still in the front seat, submerged in the water.
Burlington County officials are investigating the death of a Burlington City woman who was killed Sunday when the car in which she was riding drove into the icy Delaware River.
Burlington City police were called to the river near Wood Street just before 1 p.m. for a report of a car in the water. They discovered that the front end of the car had broken through the ice, and the driver had fled the scene, but the female passenger was still in the front seat, submerged in the water.
The Burlington City Fire Department, Burlington Township Fire Department, Endeavor Emergency Squad, and Croydon, Pa., Fire Company went to the scene and removed her from the vehicle. She was taken to Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County in Willingboro, where she was pronounced dead.
"A preliminary investigation revealed that the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed along Riverbank Road when his vehicle struck a parked minivan before vaulting over the river wall and into the water," said Joel Bewley, spokesman for the Burlington County prosecutor's office.
The driver, a Burlington City man, fled the area and was later picked up by police from Beverly City and Edgewater Park Township. He was also taken to Lourdes for a medical evaluation.
The investigation was continuing, and names of the driver and the deceased passenger were being withheld Sunday evening. No charges had been filed.