Man and dog die in car submerged in Hampshire ford
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Your support makes all the difference.A man and a dog died today when the car they were travelling in became completely submerged in "5ft of fast-flowing water" as it drove across a ford.
Officers were called to Thornford Road in Compton Wood, Hampshire, this morning after they received reports of the trapped vehicle.
A woman was able to escape from the car but the man had to be recovered from it and was pronounced dead at the scene. The dog also died in the incident, according to fire crews who attended.
A Hampshire Police spokesman said: "A man has died after the car he was travelling in was submerged in water near Newbury.
"Police were called at 9.12am this morning to reports that a vehicle was stuck in a ford at Thornford Road, near Compton Wood.
"A woman was able to get out of the vehicle but a man was recovered from it. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The woman was taken to Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, where she is being treated for shock."
The spokesman added that emergency services had attended the scene to recover the car which had become "completely submerged" in the water.
A Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said fire crews from Hampshire and Berkshire attended the scene after being alerted at 9.07am.
She said: "They quickly located the car, which was completely submerged under 5ft of fast-flowing water.
"The woman from the car had already managed to swim free of the vehicle and reach the bank.
"Newbury firefighters, who had been joined by a crew from Kingsclere, then mounted a rescue operation using ladders from both sides of the banks of the ford to reach the vehicle.
"They broke the window of the vehicle and pulled a man free."
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."
A Hampshire Police spokeswoman said the conditions on the road, including the impact of recent rainfall on water levels at the ford, would form part of the force's investigation into the death.
A Hampshire police spokesman said that the man who died was aged 52 and was the passenger in the vehicle while the woman, who was driving, was aged 54.
They were a married couple from the Middlesex area and were driving a silver Toyota Yaris.
Inspector Jon Snook, from Hampshire police'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."
PA
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