Killarney man rescued from vehicle that flipped into water-filled ditch: Manitoba RCMP

Posted on May 24, 2024 by Peggy

RCMP rescued a 20-year-old man from a water-filled vehicle after it flipped into a marsh in southwestern Manitoba on Wednesday morning.

The officers were northbound on Highway 18, approximately 10 kilometres north of Killarney, just after 11 a.m. when they saw a southbound vehicle lose control and flip onto its roof, landing in the ditch, RCMP said in a Friday news release.

One officer called for an ambulance while another officer ran into the ditch to rescue the victim.

The officer jumped into the water and saw that the window on the passenger side of the vehicle was open, RCMP said.

The officer pulled the driver from the vehicle, which was halfway submerged in water, and brought him to safety. The officer then went back into the water to make sure there was nobody else trapped in the vehicle.

The driver was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, “and that certainly helped in saving his life,” Sgt. Eric Descoteaux, the senior officer on scene from Turtle Mountain RCMP, was quoted as saying in the news release.

He said he and his partner, who was the one who jumped into the ditch, were “relieved that we happened to be in the right place” to respond to the crash.

“Some days, being a first responder is heartbreaking, but because we were in the right place at the right time, and my partner jumped in that water so quickly, today was not one of those days,” Descoteaux said in the release.

RCMP said the driver, who is from Killarney, suffered minor injuries and was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated and released.