Video captured the moment that rescue crews saved a woman from the surging Los Angeles River in California on Sunday, FOX11 reported.
The woman had allegedly gone into the Los Angeles River to retrieve a phone that her friend had dropped, according to the outlet.
“I dropped my phone,” the victim’s friend told FOX11. “[A]nd she went in to go get it and then the water came out of nowhere and pushed her down.” (RELATED: Dramatic Video Shows Helicopter Crew Saving Man And Dog From Raging Waters)
A woman was rescued out of the Los Angeles River in Studio City Sunday, after she allegedly went into the water to pull out the phone her friend had dropped. pic.twitter.com/lfxYNsPn0X
— PMW TV (@pmwtvcom) March 25, 2024
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said that the river was “less than knee depth,” but that a sudden storm had quickened the river’s pace to 15 miles per hour, FOX11 reported.
Video posted to YouTube by KTLA shows the victim’s friend struggling to climb up a ladder that rescue crews had lowered before she was quickly swept downstream.
The video then shows an LAFD helicopter lowering a swimmer into the water, who initially missed grabbing the victim before swimming back toward her, grabbing on and lifting her out of the water and into the hovering helicopter.
NBCLA reporter Julie Deng reported that the 35-year-old victim was airlifted to a local hospital where she was able to walk off the helicopter and to the gurney without assistance.
The LAFD officials said that the woman needed to be treated for minor injuries, including hypothermia, the victim’s friend told FOX11 that she was “okay.”