WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Two women who were in a car that crashed into a Waterford Township pond Wednesday died at a local hospital, authorities said.
Rescuers used an ax to free the two women from an SUV that crashed into the middle of a pond.
The crash happened at 10:58 a.m. in a small pond at the Saybrook Condominium Complex off Crescent Lake Road, south of Pontiac Lake Road.
Police said an Waterford man, 83, was driving the vehicle and stopped in a parking lot nearby. He left the vehicle to go inside a residence, leaving the transmission in drive. While he was inside the residence the vehicle rolled forward and entered the pond.
"I heard sirens coming from every different direction, and they were all stopping out front," resident Richard Farrell said. "I walked around outside the building, and I got over by the pond and turned and looked over to the left, and there were taillights sticking out of the pond."
A woman in her 70s and a handicapped woman were inside the SUV. They were taken to a nearby hospital, where they later died, according to authorities.
"They were putting a person in an ambulance and were just driving away," Farrell said.
The grass near the area where the SUV crashed into the pond looks untouched, but there are tire tread marks from the tow truck company. Crews struggled to get the SUV out of the deep water.
Eventually, they were able to remove the SUV, and now Waterford Township police are investigating what happened.
Here's aerial video of the scene:
More photos: