Officers from the San Fulgencio Local Police rescued an 80 year old man on 26 April who had fallen into a ditch while driving his vehicle.
The alert was given by a neighbour at around three o’clock in the afternoon and he reported that an elderly person was drowning and that he was unable to move because he was stuck inside the vehicle and could not get out.
The officers on duty immediately went to the area.
The rescue had to be swift, as the vehicle was gradually sinking and the victim was showing signs of exhaustion and hypothermia, which suggested a bad outcome.
After locating the exact location of the accident, the officers, observing how the car was practically submerged in the water, with the driver vaguely showing his head through a small space in one of the windows, and having serious breathing difficulties, the police officers, with no time to lose, jumped into the water. While one officer held the man’s head through the small gap in the window, another officer got a tool which was used to break the glass and the officers were able to dislodge the body from inside the vehicle.
And so, with great effort, the policemen managed to place the driver, at first, on the roof of the vehicle and, later, they moved him to the edge of the ditch, and with the help of neighbours, they managed to get him out of the water.
In the end, although the injured man showed signs of hypothermia, he did not need to be admitted to hospital, and the police carried out the rescue successfully and without any major problems.