Mohawk River sunken vehicle search continues
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- On Saturday, one man was rescued from the Mohawk River after his car went into the water and began floating down the canal. Now, somewhere sunk in the river is a white SUV.
State Police had its underwater recovery team set up until around 4 p.m. Among the vehicles were two boats: one big and one small. The smaller boat was on the water for at least three hours, picking up where the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office left off at noon.
The investigation started as a rescue on Saturday morning, when the driver of the SUV was saved from the water with help from inflatable boats. A member of the multi-county Swift Water Rescue Team who made the heroic rescue explained the obstacles they had to overcome.
“We learned from eyewitnesses that the vehicle actually did go down the river with a subject inside -- unknown at that time where they were,” said Lieutenant Smith with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
He said the Fulton, Montgomery and Schoharie Swift Water Rescue Team jumped into action just after 10 a.m. “We deployed three of our Swift Water boats and we deployed this airboat," said Smith.
He went on to explain that the rescue proved challenging, due to all the recent rain. “It's rained every day, it seems like. And what some people don't realize about the Mohawk River is that there's many, many large tributaries that dump into the Mohawk River.
“I was a little bit concerned about the current of the river. That's the fastest current we've seen as far as rescue standpoints go,” Lt. Smith said. Making matters trickier, they had to get into the dangerous water without a boat launch.
“We launched it on the side of the river on a gravel road, and I drove it on down the gravel road into the river,” Smith said, adding that they had to move swiftly. “We knew that the current was so fast that we needed to expand our search areas a little bit. And because we did that, we made a successful rescue.”
The Montgomery County Sheriff said the conditions of the water made him more concerned about the man’s safety, “He was in a bad spot and certainly hypothermia with the temperature of the water was a problem and certainly could have been a larger problem.”
The sheriff said they couldn’t do it alone and credits the many volunteer firefighters and other law enforcement agencies as well as, “We had EMS on scene and they took them right to a landing zone and the chopper flew to Albany Med so he could get immediate care.”
He said this was a lucky outcome, “Many, many times throughout my career I’ve seen people that get in that water under these circumstances don't come out alive."
Lt. Smith was just glad that there was a happy ending to report, “Every rescue is different. I think the thing that will stand out the most to me is that, you know, this was successful. Unfortunately, there are times that it is not. And, you know, we don't like to hear that. But this time, the stars aligned.”
The driver was transported to Albany Medical Center on Saturday for hypothermia and possible exhaustion. As of Monday, the victim is still in the hospital recovering but is expected to make a full recovery. Although the Mohawk River has been running too high to send in a dive team, New York State Police will reportedly resume the search for the vehicle Tuesday morning.