INDIANAPOLIS — It was a dramatic rescue Monday evening after two cars slid into a retention pond near a shopping center on Indianapolis’ north side. Before emergency crews arrived, it was strangers who came to the rescue.
Fire officials say the drivers slid on a patch of ice on a bridge and lost control, sending their vehicles into the pond. The female driver in one of those vehicles was able to climb out of her window and swim to the shore.
READ | Family rescued after car slides into Indy pond
In the other vehicle, a mother and three of her children also climbed out of the windows as the car was quickly submerged. The four managed to climb onto the top of their vehicle when a stranger dove into the icy water to help, taking the 4-year-old boy to shore. The mother and her two daughters sat on the top of their vehicle while they waited to be rescued.
“He handed the baby to another lady who was going to Brebeuf to pick up her son and she ran this way with the baby and I told her to bring the baby in,” said Tony Martinez.
Martinez was working at the Kroger gas station when the cars went into the water nearby and said he and others went out to help.
“We wrapped everybody in blankets and tried to keep them from hypothermia,” Martinez said.
Safety crews say the women and children all did exactly what they were supposed to do in that type of an incident – climb to the highest point and wait for help.
“Unbuckle your seatbelt, lower the window. If you can, unbuckle the kids in the back and get them out. Get everybody on top of the vehicle for safety,” said Indianapolis Fire Department Chief Kevin Jones.
Monday night’s incident has caused many people to question whether retention ponds like the one near 86th Street and Township Line Road should have better protections around them.
The Department of Public Works says the five- to six-inch curb around the pond does meet the barrier height requirements, and because the pond is on private property the city cannot install infrastructure around it.
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