Woman Dies As Car Rolls Into River

An elderly woman has died after a car rolled into a river while waiting to board a ferry. 

The vehicle plunged into the River Fal at the slipway to the King Harry Ferry across the River Fal near Truro, Cornwall, at around 4pm. 

The body of the woman was recovered two hours later by the emergency services following a search and rescue operation involving police, divers, fire crews, coastguard and staff from RNAS Culdrose. 

In a statement, the operators of the King Harry Ferry said the car went into the water when the ferry was at the Feock side of the river. "Our thoughts are with everyone involved after a car came off the Roseland slipway side of the King Harry Ferry,'' the statement said. 

"The ferry was on the other side of the river. 

"The emergency services were called immediately and arrived on the scene shortly after. "Our heartfelt thoughts go out to the friends and family of everyone involved in this tragedy.'' 

Matt Vernon, a diver, said he tried to rescue the woman but could not reach her. "It was really murky down there, 

"The river is very deep, around 80ft, the car was down at around 25ft. 

"At one point I got down to one side and noticed the window was wide open so the car was completely flooded and I couldn't get in it because of the depth and the cold.'' 

The King Harry Ferry connects St Mawes and the Roseland Peninsula with Feock, Truro and Falmouth and is an alternative route to a 27-mile journey through Truro and Tresillian. 

It has been operating since 1888.