- Around 6:50 a.m. Saturday, a car drove off the end of the 14th Street Pier
- It was not immediately clear who was inside, whether there were survivors or what caused the crash
A car drove off the end of the Virginia Beach pier and plunged into the sea, prompting a police rescue effort.
Around 6:50 a.m. Saturday, a car broke through the barriers of the 14th Street Pier and sped along the pier.
It braked briefly before going through the wooden balustrade at the end of the pier and over the edge as police say it is now “at the bottom of the ocean.”
A young woman standing on the beach was capturing the incident on camera when she heard a loud crash and began filming.
Virginia Beach police are working to recover the car and all its occupants, but said that even a day after it plunged into the water, they did not know how many people were inside or what the cause of the accident was.
The car's taillights were visible as it drove down the pier
It seemed to brake before the end before going over the edge
The pier is 650 feet long and the water at the end is about 15 feet deep. The water temperatures are around 40°C.
It was not immediately clear whether police had sent a diving team to check the car or search for survivors. As of Sunday afternoon, police had not confirmed whether there were any victims or survivors of the crash.
They said: Due to adverse water conditions and concerns about the safety of divers, the planned vehicle recovery from the pier had to be postponed today.
“While the weather appeared fair, it presented risks and maintaining the stability of the contracted salvage vessel was challenging.” “We will reassess and develop a new plan for a safe and effective salvage operation.”
Witnesses said the car turned from Atlantic Avenue onto the boardwalk at high speed and crashed through the first barriers at the pier.
Virginia Beach Police Department spokesman Jude Brenya told 13NewsNow, “The vehicle simply drove onto the boardwalk, onto the pier and then into the water.”
“The vehicle is on the bottom of the sea.”
He added: “We have an idea of where the vehicle is.” The challenge is to recover the vehicle from the water.
“And that's what they need to figure out. What resources would it take to figure that out?'
The pier is 650 feet long and the water at the end is about 15 feet deep. The water temperatures are around 40°C
The car broke through two barriers and reached the end of the pier
Police received a call around 6:50 a.m. on Saturday, but the car had yet to be recovered on Sunday afternoon
One of the women who caught the incident on camera, Kaylynn Crawford, told Wavy: “We initially saw that it happened very quickly. “We thought it would just take off.
“But towards the end the car started to slow down and it looked like it was almost going to wobble at the end. Then suddenly it fell over the pier.”
Charlotte Murphy, who works at a seafood restaurant on the pier, told the outlet: “They went through three gates, which is pretty crazy, and those are really, really strong gates. “It's really crazy to think about it.
“As soon as I got here I was like, 'Holy cow, that's the craziest thing I've heard in a long, long time.'