Incredible footage shows elderly couple being rescued from car after it crashed into canal and began sinking

Dramatic footage shows how an elderly couple were rescued from a car that had crashed into a canal in New York and started sink.

Seven people jumped into the water in Long Island to save the pair in a heroic effort that was captured on security video.

The good Samaritans pulled 78-year-old Joseph Abitabile to safety while rescue workers broke a window to free his wife.

She was unconscious in the passenger seat.

An off-duty police officer performed CPR on 76-year-old Delores Abitabile and was able to restore her pulse and breathing, police said.

The car crashed into the water before members of the public jumped in to rescue the driver and passenger
AP

The Abitabiles were taken to hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

The daring rescue happened at around 12.10pm local time near the Venetian Promenade and Montauk Highway in Lindenhurst.

The video shows the Abitabiles' 2004 Mercury crashing through a fence into the canal, followed by several people running to help as the car starts to submerge.

Police said Mr Abitabile lost control while driving eastbound on Montauk Highway when the couple's vehicle was struck by another car.

The other vehicle was a 2016 Subaru whose 85-year-old driver backed up into traffic after getting into a minor collision, officers said.

That man was also taken to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, along with several people involved in the rescue.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in