Dec. 12 (UPI) — New York State Parks Police said a car stuck in the upper Niagara River fell over the Niagara Falls on Sunday.
The car had been near the edge of the Niagara Falls since Wednesday when police said it appeared a 60-year-old woman intentionally drove her car into the river and died.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the car to become dislodged from rocks on the upper river but it came after wind gusts of over 50 mph swept through Western New York on Saturday night.
State Park Police Captain Christopher Rola said if the car went over the falls it would likely smash into a boulder and be crushed.
Witnesses reported seeing the car floating down the Niagara River on Wednesday before it became stuck on the rocks about 50 yards jumpy of the brink of Niagara Falls.
“We’ve never had a vehicle in the water this close to the brink,” Rola said Wednesday.
On Thursday the car moved within 30 yards of the brink and flipped over as State Parks Police and other agencies were working to determine the safest way to remove the vehicle.
Crews pulled the body of a 60-year-old woman from the car on Wednesday as a swimmer was lowered from a Coast Guard chopper into the water to pull her from the vehicle.
The car was seen making its way into the water between the vehicle and pedestrian bridges at Goat Island.
At the time crews quickly determined that a swift water rescue team would be unable to attempt a rescue.
Police have launched an inestigation into the incident.
