Man dies in car submerged in ford (From Messenger Newspapers)

Man dies in car submerged in ford

2:36pm Monday 30th April 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

A man and a dog have died after the car they were travelling in became completely submerged in "5ft of fast-flowing water" as it drove across a ford.

Officers were called to Thornford Road in Compton Wood, Hampshire, after they received reports of the trapped vehicle.

A woman was able to escape from the car but the man had to be recovered from it and was pronounced dead at the scene. The dog also died in the incident, according to fire crews who attended.

A Hampshire Police spokesman said: "A man has died after the car he was travelling in was submerged in water near Newbury.

"A woman was able to get out of the vehicle but a man was recovered from it. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was taken to Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, where she is being treated for shock."

The spokesman added that emergency services had attended the scene to recover the car which had become "completely submerged" in the water.

A Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said fire crews from Hampshire and Berkshire attended the scene after being alerted at 9.07am.

She said: "They quickly located the car, which was completely submerged under 5ft of fast-flowing water. The woman from the car had already managed to swim free of the vehicle and reach the bank.

"Newbury firefighters, who had been joined by a crew from Kingsclere, then mounted a rescue operation using ladders from both sides of the banks of the ford to reach the vehicle. They broke the window of the vehicle and pulled a man free."

A Hampshire Police spokeswoman said the conditions on the road, including the impact of recent rainfall on water levels at the ford, would form part of the force's investigation into the death.