Car crashes into pool at South Korea sports centre, swimmers rescue driver

SEOUL - A woman in her 70s on May 16 drove her car through the first-floor glass windows of a sports centre in South Gyeongsang Province in south-eastern South Korea, and the car fell into a basement swimming pool.

The car flipped over after landing in the water, and swimmers nearby quickly jumped in to help the driver.

“Men who were swimming pulled the driver out of the submerged car, and an instructor performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation,” a witness was quoted as saying.

Emergency responders took the driver, who was conscious but had chest pain, and a swimmer in her 50s with cuts from broken glass, to the hospital.

There were about eight people in the pool at the time, but the car landed away from them, so more serious injuries were avoided, according to local reports.

Police said that after reviewing surveillance footage, they found the woman had finished swimming and was preparing to drive home when she accidentally put the car in reverse, struck another vehicle, crashed through the building’s glass windows and plunged into the pool.

The driver reportedly told police she “does not remember anything about the incident”.

The authorities said she was not intoxicated and had a valid driver’s licence. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK