A car accident that ended with a vehicle plunging into a canal in St. Petersburg was captured on video, with footage suggesting the incident could have resulted in even more casualties.
Video released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region shows that at around 6 a. m. on April 22, a Citroën crossed Lermontovsky Avenue diagonally at high speed.
An oncoming driver managed to react in time and avoided a head-on collision. However, a pedestrian waiting on the sidewalk for a green traffic light signal was struck.
The impact threw the man onto the embankment of the Obvodny Canal. The vehicle then hit a road sign, broke through the barrier, and crashed into the water.
As the overturned car drifted toward the Novo-Petergofsky Bridge, the 51-year-old driver managed to escape from the vehicle.
Driver Hospitalized After Losing Consciousness
According to Fontanka, the driver was no longer in the water when rescue services arrived. He later stated that he had lost consciousness while driving.
Authorities reported that he was taken to hospital with hypothermia and minor injuries. The 49-year-old pedestrian was also hospitalized with multiple injuries and remains in moderate condition.
Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances of the accident.
