The driver who was rescued from a car that plunged off of Pier 4 and sank into the Inner Harbor on Tuesday evening is conscious and expected to live, officials said.
The middle-aged woman was underwater in her red Chevy sedan for nearly 30 minutes, according to witnesses and emergency services scanners, and was in critical condition after divers with the Baltimore City Fire Department rescued her, department spokesperson John Marsh said.
She was transported to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Investigators with the Baltimore Police Department said she was alert and awake on Wednesday afternoon.
Officials continue investigating, said Vernon Davis, a spokesperson for the Police Department.
The Baltimore City Fire Department responded to the scene in the 700 block of Eastern Avenue minutes after the car drove off of Pier 4 near the National Aquarium. Dozens of police cars and fire trucks were at the scene as several divers entered the 53-degree water.
They rescued the woman, then went back to check the vehicle for any other victims. She was the only person in the car, fire officials said.
Kalsang Dolker, a tourist visiting from New York who saw the aftermath when she arrived at the pier around 6 p.m., said the car floated across the harbor toward Pier 5 as it sank and ended up about 30 feet from the dock near the Pier 5 Hotel. The car’s trunk popped open, then the entire car submerged into the water within three minutes, she said.
Another bystander who saw the entire incident told Dolker that the car sped down the side of the pier before flying into the water.
Mayor Brandon Scott commended first responders for getting to the scene so quickly.
“They gave the patient the greatest possible chance of recovery,” he said.
The vehicle was pulled from the harbor shortly after 9 p.m.
This is not the first time a vehicle has been recovered from the Inner Harbor.
In July, fire and police personnel pulled a van with a body inside of it out of the Inner Harbor. The minivan was recovered 22 feet underwater just behind the National Aquarium on Pier 4. It was branded with the logo of Waldorf-based transportation company Silver Taxi Cab.
Baltimore Police officials said the van was reported missing in December 2014, but officials have yet to identify the person found inside.
A Phillips Seafood sous chef and military veteran jumped into the harbor in 2023 to save a driver after his car plunged into the water outside of the restaurant. The sous chef, Tom Walsh, smashed one of the car windows open to rescue the driver stuck inside.
Walsh is the son of actor Dylan Walsh, whose credits include the TV series “Superman & Lois” and “Nip/Tuck.”
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