Couple involved in Headley Ford tragedy from Middlesex
The 52-year-old man, who is yet to be named, died when the silver Toyota Yaris in which he was a passenger entered the notorious ford before being swept 200 yards down river.
Firefighters from Newbury were first on the scene after a 9.07am call.
They quickly located the car which was completely submerged in 5ft of fast-flowing water. The woman driver of the car had already managed to swim free of the vehicle and had reached the bank.
Newbury firefighters, who were joined by a crew from Kingsclere, then mounted a rescue operation using ladders from both sides of the banks of the river to reach the vehicle. They broke the window of the vehicle and pulled the man free but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Station manager, Mark White, said :”On reaching the scene fire crews made a dynamic assessment and quickly mounted a rescue operation to free the man from the vehicle. Once the man had been pulled free from the vehicle, crews from South Central Ambulance who were standing by carried out CPR.”
The 54-year-old woman was taken to the Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital to be treated for shock.
Police confirmed the couple are a husband and wife from the Middlesex area.
The road was closed to allow the emergency services to respond to the incident and recover the vehicle, a silver Toyota Yaris.
Insp. Jon Snook from Hampshire Constabulary’s Roads Policing unit said: “We believe the car drove into the ford from the Hampshire side where it appears as though it was swept downstream and became submerged.
“On arrival, we co-ordinated a rescue operation with the fire service to try and free the man. Unfortunately, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
“We know that the ford was flooded and we are now conducting an investigation to establish the exact circumstances of this incident and will be preparing a file for the coroner.
“If you have any information that could help us with our enquiries, for example if you saw the Toyota Yaris prior to the incident, please contact the police.”
Anyone with information about this incident, including anyone who saw the Toyota Yaris prior to the incident, is asked to contact the Roads Policing Unit at Farnborough, quoting Operation Alcantra, on the non emergency telephone number, 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously, telephone0800 555 111. Minicom users should telephone 01962 875000.
For a full report including photos of the rescue scene, see newburytoday’s sister paper, The Newbury Weekly News, published on Thursday (May 3).