5 kids trapped underwater in US crash; driver free

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minnesota – Five young children were trapped underwater after their car skidded off a rain-slicked ramp and landed in a frigid pond in the U.S. on Thursday, authorities said. The driver escaped.

Rescuers pulled the children from the water 25 to 45 minutes after the accident in Minnesota. The children were unresponsive, St. Louis Park city spokeswoman Jamie Zwilling said.

The Minnesota State Patrol said the children were seriously injured, but did not give details on the nature of the injuries or how the injuries happened.

The children were ages 1, 5, 5, 6 and 7, State Patrol spokesman Lt. Eric Roeske said.

The 23-year-old driver, Marion Guerrido, was in stable condition. Roeske said her relationship to the children wasn’t immediately known.

Roeske said there was no guardrail separating the pond from the highway ramp.

Passersby who saw the car tried to rescue the children, but it was submerged in cold water. Roeske said he was told one person stood on the roof of the car, and the “incredibly cold, nearly freezing-temperature water” was up to his neck.

Once the vehicle was pulled from the water, authorities saw the children inside. Zwilling said firefighters started breaking windows and pulling out the children.

Roeske said it wasn’t clear whether speed was a factor in the crash.

He said there was no indication that the woman intentionally drove into the water.