A woman who veered into the Potomac River while driving northbound on the George Washington Memorial Parkway was rescued by the U.S. Park Police and good Samaritans.
The accident took place in a section of the road between the Humpback Bridge and the Memorial Bridge where there are no guardrails and the northbound lanes of the parkway closely hug the Potomac River.
At around 6:50 p.m. Tuesday, the unidentified woman got her car into the river, where it started to sink.
Officials have not said what caused the woman to run off the road into the river.
As the car sank, the woman clung to the car, the D.C. Fire and EMS Department posted on X. The woman was helped to shore after she was tossed a throw bag by the U.S. Park Police, which has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia roadway.
Upon getting to shore, she was taken to a medical facility for further evaluation. She is expected to recover, officials told WTOP-FM.
Good Samaritans also aided in helping to pull the woman onto the shore, as caught on video posted on X by WRC-TV reporter Joseph Olmo. In the background, the woman’s Jeep continued to sink with its trunk sticking out into the air.
A Metropolitan Police Department diver confirmed that there was no one else in the sunken car, D.C. fire officials said.
