WALPOLE, MASS. (WHDH) - Two men hospitalized after their pickup truck crashed through the ice of a pond in Walpole Sunday are lucky to be alive officials said.
Police and firefighters responding to reports of a crash on Oak Street found a truck that had driven off the road and into a pond, police said. Both driver and passenger got out on their own, but had to contend with deep, cold water.
“It was about 10 feet deep and they were completely submerged,” said Sgt. Jim O’Connell. “The temperature was in the teens and I can’t imagine the water temperature was much warmer than that, so they were very very cold when officers arrived.”
Both men were taken to a local hospital with hypothermia, according to police. O’Connell said the driver said he swerved to avoid an animal.
“It was slippery conditions so if you apply your breaks quickly that could cause it,” O’Connell said.
But neighbors say this isn’t the first accident in the area, with a nearly-identical crash happening a few years back — and said drivers need to slow down.
“Some pickup truck in the middle of the night, I guess early morning, one two o’clock. The guy said he tried to avoid a dog that was in the middle of the road and the next thing you know they end up pulling the truck out of there the next morning,” said Jim D’Ovidio, a 30-year resident of the area. “They don’t go slow, they really don’t go slow.”
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