Woman rescued after car lands upside down in Black River

UPDATED 4 P.M. MONDAY

An uninjured woman was rescued Sunday night from the Black River in Poplar Bluff after her car landed upside down in knee deep water, according to officials.

The first call to the fire department was logged in at 10:16 p.m. and the woman had been rescued, with fire and police officers leaving the scene by 10:56 p.m.

Her car went off the road at East Ashcroft Road and Saxon, according to Poplar Bluff Fire Department reports. The roadway is gravel.

Local law enforcement officers said the location where the car went into the river has been the scene for multiple accidents in the last four years. The steep embankment has large concrete riprap and brush, making it difficult for the firefighters and police to climb up and down.

The first call to firefighters stated it was a single-vehicle off the embankment into the river.

Poplar Bluff Fire Chief Mike Moffitt said, “I talked to the first arriving officer, Chad Bell, who stated the car was upside down in the river. Luckily it was only at about knee deep water. She still had her seatbelt buckled, so she couldn’t get out on her own. They had to get down in there and unbuckle her seatbelt and get her out.”

The fire reports stated two fire personnel and two police officers retrieved the fire department boat, which they chose not to use. Other firefighters used a vest, roof ladder and rope to ascend down the bank to the vehicle.

When they made contact with the victim, she stated her “leg was hurting and that she was stuck.”

Two firefighters got the victim from under the seat’s headrest and ceiling, out of the vehicle and placed her in a rescue basket.

Fire and police department personnel used a rope tied to the basket to help pull victim up the river bank.

Butler County EMS checked the victim for injuries and she refused treatment.

Also assisting with the rescue were Butler County sheriff’s deputies and Missouri State Highway Patrol.

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10 A.M. MONDAY

A woman was rescued Sunday night from Black River in Poplar Bluff after her car landed upside down in knee deep water, according to officials.

Poplar Bluff Fire Chief Mike Moffitt said, “I talked to the first arriving officer, Chad Bell, who stated the car was upside down in the river. Luckily it was only at about knee deep water. She still had her seatbelt buckled so she couldn’t get out on her own. They had to get down in there and unbuckle her seatbelt and get her out.”

Moffitt said, there “was only one person in it.”

Along with the PBFD, Poplar Bluff police officers, Butler County sheriff’s deputies, Missouri State Highway Patrol and Butler County EMS assisted at the scene.

This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.