Owner of Submerged Car Asleep, but not at the Wheel
[Cover Picture: Penghu Times]
A fisherman at Makung Harbor, Penghu County yesterday reported that a car had gone over the wharf and was upside down under the water. Police, Firefighters, and Coast Guard rushed to the scene for search and rescue operations.
Six rescue vehicles, a boat, five scuba divers and a total of 16 personnel were dispatched to the harbor. However, no occupants were found in the vehicle.
The divers, working in poor visibility, reported that the vehicle was a Honda with the license plate VI ****. A search for the owner drew a blank, and police suspected the vehicle had been stolen and abandoned.
However, after the car was lifted out of the water with a crane, police identified it as a Toyota with the license plate YI ****. In the trunk of the car, police found fresh fish and empty beverage containers.
The owner was identified as a local resident, Mr Hsu.
Police tried to contact Mr Hsu by phone, but after he didn’t answer, police suspected something unfortunate may have happened after all. Officers called at Mr Hsu’s home and found him safe and well.
Mr Hsu explained that the previous night he had gone fishing at the wharf. He caught not a bad haul of fish. However, he forgot to apply the handbrake on his car and left it in neutral, and as he loaded the fish into the trunk of the vehicle, the car rolled away and went over the edge of the wharf.
Mr Hsu was tired and there was nobody around to help at the time, so he decided to go home and sleep before dealing with the problem later. On finding out that emergency services had dispatched so many personnel and resources, he gave them his sincere thanks.
Source: Penghu Times.
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