Man dies after car 'breaks through barriers' and plunges into marina

30 August 2023 , 11:55

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Emergency services raced to the scene shortly after 10am (Image: Dimitris Legakis/Athena Pictures)

A man's body has been found in a car after it plunged into a marina in Swansea, police have said.

Emergency services raced to the scene just outside the National Waterfront Museum at around 10am. An air ambulance attended, as well as paramedics, specialist divers and a coastguard crew.

Officers said the vehicle was fully submerged when they arrived, and that the death is currently being treated as unexplained. With the help of a commercial diver, firefighters lifted the casualty from the submerged vehicle.

In a statement, Detective Inspector Chris Evans said: "Emergency services attended, and a car was found fully submerged in the water.

The scene outside the National Waterfront Museum

An air ambulance attended the scene

"The body of a man was located in the car. The death is being treated as unexplained at this time and enquiries are continuing to ascertain the full circumstances behind the incident. The incident is ongoing whilst the car is being recovered."

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In a statement, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that the car broke through a barrier, and one person was found inside. A spokesperson said: "One private motor vehicle had driven through a barrier and had entered the water with one person inside the vehicle.

"Crew members, with the assistance of a commercial diver, recovered the casualty from the submerged vehicle who was then put in the care of the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART)." The area has been cordoned off with police tape.

Pictures show broken metal railings where the car entered the water (Dimitris Legakis/Athena Pictures WS)

A nearby residents' association said access to the south dock of the marina was "severely restricted due to an ongoing serious incident". Pictures show broken metal barriers where the car entered the water.

The Welsh Ambulance Service sent four hazardous area response teams to the area. It earlier confirmed that they are no longer at the scene. A spokesperson earlier said: "We were called today, at approximately 10:01am, to reports of a vehicle entering the water at Swansea Marina.

Police tape has been put up around the area (Dimitris Legakis/Athena Pictures)

"We sent four hazardous area response teams, one air ambulance, two Cymru high acuity response units, one duty operational manager and one emergency ambulance to the scene where we were assisted by colleagues from the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service who travelled by air."

A reporter for Wales Online, who is at the scene, said another diver went into the water at around 2pm as the car remained fully submerged.

Katie Weston