Search on for pair after car plunges into reserve’s lake
Witness says he saw man and woman arguing before vehicle headed into water
Rescuers were last night searching for two people missing after a car went into a lake in southwest Christchurch. Witness Jordan Fleming said he was walking his dog past the Westlake Reserve when he saw a woman in a red hatchback in the carpark, arguing with a man outside who was trying to open the driver’s door.
“I heard the accelerator go and that’s when the car went off the bank down the hill into the lake,” he said.
The man jumped in and swam after the sinking car, diving and resurfacing several times, Fleming said. Then he dived and did not reappear.
Police were called at 5.45pm to reports that a vehicle was submerged in the lake in the suburb of Halswell.
“There are staff there working to determine if anybody was in the car,” a spokeswoman said.
Firefighters and ambulance officers also attended the scene.
A police spokeswoman told the Herald it was unclear last night whether anyone was in the vehicle, despite police and fire officers diving in and trying to look inside.
“A scene guard will be in place overnight,” she said.
Fairfax reported it was suspected two people were inside, but the vehicle had not been found because the lake was so deep.
A police spokesman told Fairfax that “numerous people went into the lake with ropes to try and get to the vehicle”.
The Police Dive Squad will join the search today.
Earlier a large crowd of about 50 people stood at the shoreline.
Witnesses said two people who went into the lake to try to save the pair were later taken away by ambulance.
Other bystanders told of hearing a car’s engine revving before accelerating into the lake.
A diver went into the lake but came up indicating he could not reach the vehicle, locals said.
The lake sits in the middle of a housing development in Halswell. Residents say it’s a deep former shingle quarry and the area is popular with runners, walkers, cyclists and children feeding ducks.
It is 200m from Checketts Ave where Helen Milner, dubbed the Black Widow, murdered her husband Phil Nisbet in 2009.
Checketts Ave is also where builder Michael McGrath lived before his mysterious disappearance in May.
Police searched the lake during their huge — and so far unsuccessful — hunt for him.