A 72-year-old woman was killed after her SUV plunged into a frigid Courtenay river over the weekend.
First responders rushed to the Comox Estuary Sunday at around 6:30 a.m. after a driver noticed lights shining from a vehicle submerged in the water next to Dyke Road.
“Very unusual here,” said Paul Berry with Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue. “There are a few spots where vehicles can access and this would be one of them. First one in a long time.”
Searchers found the woman inside the vehicle and quickly pulled her out.
“Seemed to have her seatbelt off and we were able to bring [her] out almost right away,” he said.
The woman was brought to shore and rushed to hospital by ambulance where she was later pronounced dead.
Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the woman to drive into the Courtenay river. Her exact cause of death is unknown.
It’s unclear how long the car was submerged and if the cold water temperatures affected the woman.
Crews searched the river to make sure nobody else was involved in the incident.
The case is now being investigated by the RCMP.
