Man and woman die after being trapped in car stuck in flooded road under bridge
A man and a woman have died after being trapped in a car stuck on a flooded road following heavy rain.
Emergency services last night rescued the pair from the vehicle, submerged in water under a bridge, but they later died in hospital.
Residents in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, say the flooding, thought to have happened following a burst pipe, caused 15ft of water to build up yesterday. Now, police are appealing for witnesses after the black Mercedes Class 180 got into difficulty at around 9.20pm.
The black Mercedes was pictured covered up as police investigated the incident (Jason Roberts photography)The tragedy happened when Liverpool, in addition to the surrounding area, was subject to a yellow weather warning as forecasters anticipated up to 50mm of rain to fall overnight.
Rebecca Wilson, 27, who was travelling along the road last night, told Liverpool Echo: "We went to turn around the car and all of a sudden it looked like a waterfall coming down from the side of the bridge. As I looked back out of the window I turned to my mates and told them I thought I had just seen red lights under the water and I thought maybe someone had become stuck. I rang the police just to be safe.
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"The water just came out of nowhere and the rain was so heavy that night and a part of me just wished I had turned back and gone home. It was terrifying and I just thought I was seeing things at first and then I saw on the news that there was a car in there this morning.
"The water was gushing down like a waterfall and it was tonnes and tonnes of water. It looked like a burst dam and I think it must have been 15ft high right at the bottom of the dip."
Police remained at the scene on Sunday morning. The force will now investigate the accident, which happened in a community which has experienced flooding in the past.
The force wants to talk to witnesses to the crash, which happened in Mossley Hill, Liverpool (Jason Roberts photography)Detective Chief Inspector Mike Dalton, of Merseyside Police, said: “Our thoughts go out to the family of the man and woman who sadly lost their lives in this tragic incident, despite the best efforts of passing members of the public, our officers and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services at the scene.
“We are at the early stages of an ongoing investigation on Queens Drive to establish the circumstances of this tragic incident. Road closures remain in the area as we continue with this investigation and motorists are advised to avoid the road."
"We are continuing to appeal to anyone who was on Queens Drive, between North Mossley Hill Road and Dovedale Road at around 9.20pm last night and saw the accident, or who stopped to try and help or anyone who had any dashcam footage from their car to come forward as soon as possible.
"Similarly, if you live in the area and have any doorbell or CCTV footage from last night please share this with us. Thank you for your patience whilst we deal with this tragic incident."
One man, who lives on an adjacent road was walking his dog as police investigated at the scene, said: "I've never seen it that bad. That's the deepest I've ever seen it. It was absolutely lashing it down. Rarely have I seen it rain that bad. But nearly every time it rains they seem to have to close the road.
"The whole of Rose Lane was moving [because of the water] yesterday then to think somebody drove down there....You could see the waves on it. I've never seen it that deep. Everybody was out last night. They had a drone over the top and you could hear the pumps. Neighbours said there was one or two ambulances."
Another neighbour said: "It floods every time you have torrential rain. In the last six months there have been at least two cars stuck. There is nothing leading it to warn people of the flooding."
One woman at the scene this morning said the problem was "supposed to have been fixed." She said flooding and cars getting stuck "happens all the time."
Anyone with information on this incident is urged to call the Matrix Roads Policing Unit on (0151) 777 5747 or contact @MerPolCC on Twitter or Merseyside Police Contact Centre on Facebook quoting reference 23000807137.
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Well-wishers left tributes to the man and woman on social media. One woman posted: "So sad Rip to the couple thoughts to all family and friends." Another said: "This is heartbreaking."
A further tribute reads: "I cannot even try to comprehend the last minutes of those poor people and how frightened they would have been." Another woman said on Facebook: "Deepest sympathy to all concerned."
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