WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Two people escaped from a sinking car after an attempt to avoid hitting another vehicle in West Miami-Dade sent them into a canal.
Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue responded to the scene of the crash in the area of Coral Way and Southwest 117th Avenue around 7:45 p.m., Wednesday.
“Ladder 29 responding Coral Way, Southwest 117th Avenue, reference a vehicle in the canal,” a dispatcher said in radio transmissions.
According to MDPD, everyone inside the four-door Lexus that went into Snapper Creek got out.
“We do have a vehicle in the canal. Reportedly everyone is out of the vehicle,” said the dispatcher.
The occupants of the car, who are 18 and 19 years old, said the other car made a U-turn in front of them while they were driving southbound. They swerved their car to get out of the way and went into the canal.
One of the occupants, Eric Hernandez, spoke with 7News.
“I’m safe and alive,” he said.
Hernandez said he and his friend were returning home from getting some food and were heading southbound when the crash occurred.
“We tried, like, swerve and brake, but we couldn’t, and since he was making a U-turn, we, like, it made us go to the rail, and it broke, and we went to the water,” he said.
The teen explained how he and his friend escaped the sinking vehicle.
“In the water, all the glass started, like, cracking, and we tried opening the door, and the door didn’t open, so we went out through the sunroof,” said Hernandez.
7News cameras captured the damaged car along the canal and some damage to the guardrail. The two teens were seen wrapped in aluminum blankets.
“[The car] floated all the way down this way, due to the wind — as you can see, how it’s really windy — and it finally sank over here,” said Ivan Grau of Sunshine Towing.
After escaping, the boys swam to the shore, where Grau helped them out, and they were able to call their parents.
7News cameras captured the teens as they tried to salvage belongings in the car.
Southwest 117th Avenue was temporarily shut down near the scene of the crash, but it has since reopened to traffic.
It remains unclear whether or not the driver of the other car will be cited.
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