Young Woman Rescued From Car Submerged In Drainage Ditch Off I-94

HARRISON TOWNSHIP (WWJ) - A 23-year-old woman is hospitalized, but alive, after she was pulled from her car underwater off I-94.

Macomb County Sheriff's Lt. John Michalke said the 911 call came in just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

"It was a truck driver that was traveling westbound on I-94 and he witnessed a vehicle drive off the freeway and into a ditch, retention ditch," Michalke told WWJ Newsradio 950's Sandra McNeill.

Michalke said a rescue crew arrived quickly and found the car almost completely submerged in the water-filled ditch, near Shook Road, with the driver unconscious inside.

"Six of our sheriff's deputies entered the water; and, with the help of Harrison Township firefighters, (they) were able to break a window," Michalke said.

"The car was running and the windows were up and the doors were locked. One of the deputies used a baton and was able to break the glass in the window, again with the help of Harrison Township firefighters were able to extricate the 23-year-old female from the car."

Michalke said is not yet known what may have caused the accident.

The woman was awake at a local hospital before noon on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear how badly she was injured. Her name has not been released.