SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The Idaho State Patrol says a Newport, Wash., man was lucky to survive after his car plunged into the Pend Oreille River near the Idaho state line.
The Spokesman-Review reports 20-year-old Ned Florea wiggled his way to the trunk of the 2003 Hyundai Tiburon and found a pocket of air that kept him alive as rescue crews and a tow-truck driver worked to get him out.
The Idaho State Police says the crash occurred at 11:17 p.m. Saturday on LeClerc Road north of Oldtown, Idaho. The car left the road, went down an embankment and plunged upside down into the water. A passenger, 18-year-old Keefer T. Peterson, was able to escape.
The Idaho State Patrol says alcohol may have contributed to the crash, which remains under investigation.
