Two teenagers found themselves in a life-threatening situation Wednesday evening when their vehicle plunged into the depths of a West Miami-Dade. According to authorities, the imminent danger unfolded near Coral Way and Southwest 117th Avenue when another vehicle's abrupt U-turn led the teens to swerve and crash through a guardrail, sending them into Snapper Creek, according to WSVN.
The Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue were dispatched to the scene around 7:45 p.m, with reports soon confirming that the two occupants inside the four-door Lexus had managed to escape the sinking car. Despite the harrowing experience, the two youths, aged 18 and 19, exhibited quick thinking as they fled the drowning car through the sunroof an account given by one of the teens, Eric Hernandez, suggests their survival was narrow "I'm safe and alive," Hernandez asserted, detailing the moment they opted for evasive action to avoid the collision but instead, crashed into the canal in a statement obtained by WSVN.
On-site footage showed the aftermath, with the vehicle submerged and the teenagers sheathed in aluminum blankets, an indicator of the ordeal they faced and survived, NBC6 reports provided additional context, explaining how the car went through the railing and nosedived into the canal waters; in Hernandez's own words, "The canal broke, and no water went in," painting a chilling scene of the accident according to a NBC6 report.
In a twist of fate, the sunroof which was already open, served as their escape hatch while the car descended into the watery grave the teens, after escaping, swam ashore with assistance from onlookers like Ivan Grau of Sunshine Towing who recounted the car's drift along the canal due to the wind, "and it finally sank over here," Grau detailed their attempts to retrieve belongings from the canal's edge were caught on camera as the thoroughfare near the crash site was temporarily interrupted for recovery and investigation the status of the driver who performed the U-turn and whether they will face citations remains yet to be determined.
