MIAMI (AP) -- A car rolled off Florida's Turnpike and plunged into a canal Tuesday, killing four elderly women. A fifth woman survived being trapped underwater for several minutes.
One witness said there may have been a small child in the car, but rescuers called off the search without finding anyone else, fire officials said.
None of the women was breathing or had a pulse when divers pulled them from the water after about 13 minutes, fire officials said.
One woman was pronounced dead at the scene and three others died at hospitals, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The woman who survived was hospitalized in critical condition.
The car had been hit by another driver and rolled over several times before sinking into the canal. Witnesses said the driver of the second car was talking on a cell phone. The Highway Patrol was investigating.
Between 1996 and 2000, nearly 100 people died in South Florida in accidents involving canals or other bodies of water.
