A man is alive after he was seen driving a burning car into the Ohio River early this morning (June 6), according to WDRB News.
5th Division officers responded to a call of a “vehicle on fire and being driven into the river from Cox Park Boat Ramp,” according to a news release from Louisville Metro Police Department Spokesperson Dwight Mitchell. Witnesses reported seeing the man driving into the river at about 5 a.m. They then told police they saw a male get out of the vehicle, but he did not make it to the shore.
After Louisville Fire and Rescue and the LMPD's Air Unit searched for the driver, he was ultimately found sometime before 7 a.m. Anchorage Fire Department officials said the man floated several miles downstream in the dark before barge crews spotted him and pulled in out of the water near Eva Bandman Park.
The man, who was the only person in the vehicle, appeared to have some injuries from the fire, but thankfully was conscious and alert when he was rescued and taken to University Hospital. So far, there aren't any details as to how the vehicle caught on fire, or why the man drove it into the water, but the police are still investigating the incident.