Police units at the northern end of the William F. Cribari Memorial Bridge — the Imperial Avenue side — where a man was floating in the water. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Firefighters pulled her from the water a short time later and a search was launched for her husband, according to emergency workers at the scene and a later police statement.

He was found floating in the river about an hour and 20 minutes after the first 911 call and was pronounced dead at Norwalk Hospital, police said. Neither was identified pending notification of next of kin.

The drama began when diners from The Whelk Restaurant, 575 Riverside Ave., overlooking the water heard the woman’s screams and alerted police at 7:39 p.m. 

Police and fire units converged on the area and soon spotted her in the middle of the swiftly moving water that was carrying her up the river as she continued to call for help.

Firefighters quickly donned cold water rescue suits and commandeered a boat from the Saugatuck Rowing Club to get the woman out of the water. The club is about a quarter mile north of where the car went into the water

Then a frantic hunt started for her husband. After an agonizing search, emergency workers finally located the submerged car on the other side of the river opposite The Black Duck Cafe off the state boat ramp near the I-95 Bridge.

Westport police closed off the William F. Cribari Memorial Bridge while they searched for a man missing in the water. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Under hastily erected floodlights, firefighters and police in a boat starting a patterned search near the boat ramp.

While they scoured the river, an officer on duty keeping traffic off of the William F. Cribari Memorial Bridge radioed at about 9 p.m. that she spotted the man floating in the water at the bridge’s northern end near Imperial Avenue.

EMS personnel, who had staged at a command post set up at the nearby Engine Co. 4’s headquarters overlooking the river, responded and immediately began CPR and transported him to Norwalk Hospital.

It was not known why the car, reportedly with New York plates, went into the water. A heavy rainstorm was moving through the area at about the time of the incident.

The woman, who was taken to Norwalk Hospital in apparently non life-threatening condition, managed to tell rescuers that her 70-year-old husband had been with her in the car. But she couldn’t remember how the car came to be in the water.

Emergency lights shine at a boat ramp on the east side of the Saugatuck River off Elaine Road where the car went into the water. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

The combined police and fire dive team was summoned to pull the car from the water. The Norwalk Fire Department fireboat also responded along with units from Fairfield and state police.

Police closed off the William F. Cribari Memorial Bridge to traffic as they searched for the missing man. It was opened shortly after 10 p.m.

A tow truck working with the dive team removed the vehicle from the water at 10:45 p.m.

Lt. David Farrell said no foul play is suspected, and the incident continues to be investigated by police.

Article from WestportNow.com