A pair of lost female tourists remained faithful to their GPS device to the very end, driving their car into the deep waters of a marina and relying on the help of good samaritans to rescue them. The women, seemingly oblivious to their predicament, even remained steadfastly buckled as the ocean waters rushed into their car.
A now-viral video picks up the moment when their rental van was already becoming quickly submerged and nearby people rushed to their aid.
“I think they just must’ve taken their eyes off the road for a second, and I think everyone is a bit shocked because we saw this car go straight into the harbor,” first-hand witness Christie Hutchinson, who recorded the video below, said to Hawaii News Now.
Her husband, Sean, added during an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, “I jumped into the water and got to the window and spoke to the driver. It was relatively deep the way they were drifting out. The weather was really bad.”
Christie Hutchinson continued, “And it took us a second to figure out what was going on because they didn’t seem panicked or have any sense of urgency to get out of the car.”
Hawaii News Now offered a brief summary of the ordeal, writing:
A pair of tourists had a terrifying experience on Saturday evening when their van mistakenly ended up in the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor in Kailua-Kona.
According to witnesses, the driver and her passenger were buckled in their seats as water poured through the open windows of their Dodge Caravan.
The passenger was able to escape through their window, but bystanders had to jump in the water and pull the driver out and carry her up the boat ramp.
Good Samaritans said the tourists misunderstood GPS directions to a manta ray excursion, and their GPS led them straight into the harbor.
Take a look at the somewhat funny, somewhat frightening encounter these ladies had with the unforgiving and turbulent seas:
View this post on Instagram
Good Morning America added that the end result was a damaged car but no human injuries from the stated “difficult to navigate” area. Perhaps some bruised egos? GMA added:
After carefully helping her out of the car and walking the driver and passenger back up the boat ramp, the van began to sink underwater, according to Hutchinson.
Law enforcement has not commented on what caused the incident, but Hutchinson’s wife Christie, who recorded video showing the Dodge Caravan and rescue efforts, said the area around the harbor is difficult to navigate.
Difficult to navigate is one way to put it. Launching a boat is one thing; countless videos abound of mishaps occurring when a boat gets set off into the water. However, it’s not every day you read a story of someone going in headfirst straight off the ramp. Making this story more bizarre is that the driver’s and passenger’s immediate reaction suggest they were determined to not think for themselves and follow whatever the GPS was telling them.
Did they think the road had simply been washed over and they’d come out the other side? Did they not see and feel the decline? Did they not see the boats?
“Sources say no one was hurt in this incident. Tow crews pulled the fully submerged caravan out of the water,” Hawaii News Now concluded in its story.
Featured image: Screenshot from embedded Instagram video.
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