Eerie new footage shows a car that mysteriously ran off a Virginia Beach pier and is now submerged in the Atlantic Ocean, but officials still don’t know if anyone was inside.
The shocking incident, captured by a passerby on Saturday, showed a vehicle speeding along Highway 14.th A street fishing pier with brake lights flashing sporadically before diving into the ocean.
It was eventually found upside down, 17 feet below the surface, and rough conditions made it impossible for divers to safely retrieve it or determine if there was a body inside, authorities said. .
Video taken by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) shows the car bobbing in the murky water.
“The ROV was unable to provide a clear image or identification tag,” the Chesapeake Fire Department wrote in a post accompanied by a short clip.
Virginia Beach Police Sergeant Brian Licciardo told reporters the vehicle was “unstable” as it was lying on its roof.
“The scary thing for us is not that the car will drift, but that one of the divers will get caught in the car,” he said. WTKR reported.
“No one wants to bring a solution to this problem more than us,” Ricardo said. “We are just as frustrated as everyone else at not being able to go into the water, but there is nothing we can do to move this situation forward.”
He said the detective bureau was also investigating the possibility that a car crashed through a metal gate at about 7am on Saturday and sped along the pier before plowing through, causing the fatality.
Virginia Beach firefighters responded within four minutes, and swim rescue workers tried to locate the vehicle and anyone who may have been inside, Ricardo said. WAVY reported.
By the time the police special operations team arrived, fire personnel had already been pulled from the water, he said, adding that officers used side-scan sonar to locate the car.
“Ocean currents were measured at 3.9 knots, more than four times the VBPD diver safety standard,” police said in a statement on Monday.
“Strong currents and extremely low visibility made the area too dangerous for divers to safely navigate and assess, especially in the vicinity of the submerged SUV bobbing on its roof in the turbulence,” the report said. the book added.
On Sunday, a crew from Crofton Industries, which is contracted by police, attempted to recover the vehicle, but waves were too strong and the operation had to be postponed, WAVY reported.
“They broke the two reins holding the crane in place and snapped the mooring lines from the crane barge to the dive boat. That’s how violent it was outside,” Ricardo said.
“Imagine if you’re standing on the beach, wearing a swimsuit, and a current hits you and knocks you off your feet, and you’re wearing 90 pounds of diving equipment. ” he added. 13NewsNow reported.
Officials said salvage crews will determine when it is safe to continue recovery efforts.
“The goal of this mission remains to safely recover the vehicle, reunite all occupants and loved ones, and preserve the integrity of all evidence,” police said in a statement.
