Forums Forums National News Body found after car washed away

Body found after car washed away

The body of a 20-year-old man has been found by emergency services searching for the three occupants of a car swept into a stream in Cornwall.

The Volvo saloon car was washed away after heavy rain in the early hours in Zennor, between St Ives and St Just.

A 26-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl are still missing.

Firefighters, coastguard teams, police, officers using dogs and a Royal Navy helicopter from RNAS Culdrose have been involved in the search.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the man's body was found at about 0700 BST.

The incident reportedly happened at about 0130 BST near the B3306.

'Atrocious' conditions

The alarm was raised by a 20-year-old man who said he had managed to get out of the car before it was washed away, but three other people were unaccounted for.

About an hour later a green Volvo S70 saloon was found submerged and full of water.

The Volvo was a taxi but police have confirmed it was not being used as a taxi at the time.

Supt Martin Orpe from Devon and Cornwall Police said search teams would continue looking until nightfall.

"We're still searching for two people who are missing from this particular vehicle," he said.

"Four people were in the vehicle when it went into the river at some time in the early hours of this morning.

"Weather conditions were atrocious down here, with very heavy rain the river was high and for some reason the vehicle went into the stream."

Mr Orpe described the events of early morning as "tragic, absolutely tragic".

"There's four people out for an evening and they've come back and we've ended up in the situation we're in so we really do feel for all the families in relation to this.

"We're doing the best we possibly can to look after the families involved and to try and find the two missing people from this vehicle."

THE BBC

Brother and sister lost in floods


Fears are growing for a brother and sister missing after the car they were in was swept away during flash floods in Cornwall on Saturday.

A 20-year-old man's body was found hours after the Volvo saloon was submerged in flood water in Zennor, between St Ives and St Just.

Another man, also aged 20, escaped from the car as it filled with water.

The search for Ryan Martel, 26, and his 17-year-old sister Frankie Chappel, who live locally, resumed earlier.

A police spokesman said the family of the missing siblings, who are originally from Guernsey, wished to extend their thanks to the emergency services involved in the search and to members of the public and nearby householders who have helped.

Road collapse

They said their thoughts were with other families affected by the accident.

The search, which was suspended on Saturday night, was resumed about 0900 BST, with coastguards planning to concentrate their search at low tide - at about midday.

The accident happened at 0130 BST on Saturday near the B3306.

Police said the car appears to have been swept away when part of the road collapsed.

The alarm was raised by the 20-year-old man who said he had managed to get out of the car before it was washed away.

About an hour later the vehicle was found submerged and full of water.

The body of the 20-year-old man was recovered just after 0700 BST, downstream from where the car was found, Devon and Cornwall Police said.

Firefighters, police, officers using dogs, coastguard teams and a Royal Navy helicopter from RNAS Culdrose were involved in the search.

Police have yet to identify the dead man formally.

THE BBC