SUFFOLK, Va. — A vehicle turned on its roof in the water near the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel this morning.
The Virginia State Police says that around 6:00 a.m. a trooper on patrol saw a vehicle on its roof overturned in the water before the entrance of the bridge.
The car was about 40 feet from the shore. The driver was out of the vehicle and in the water as firefighters and medics made it into the water to provide care.
Two bystanders were also in the water helping assist the driver of the overturned vehicle, says Suffolk Fire & Rescue.
Fire Boats and Zodiacs from Suffolk Fire & Rescue accessed the patient from the water and then taken to a medic unit at a nearby marina. The patient was taken to a hospital in serious condition.
The initial investigation by VSP determined that a sleeping motorist ran off into the water at the beginning of the bridge. The driver was recovered, alive.
Assisting Suffolk Fire & Rescue and Virginia State Police were assisted by Newport News Fire Department, the United States Coast Guard, Virginia Marine Resource Commission, Virginia Department of Emergency Management, the Virginia Port Authority and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Crews have extracted the vehicle from the water.
