HONOLULU – A 15-year-old girl was rescued from a car that sank in Ala Wai Harbor but the passer-by who saved her was unable to rescue her grandfather, authorities said.
The teenager, whose name was not released, managed to call 911 from inside the sinking car.
"I'm in the car and I can't open the door and the water is coming in and I'm sinking," the girl told an emergency dispatcher.
"I don't want to drown. ... Please hurry," she said before the call went dead.
The girl's grandfather, attorney Michael McCarthy, was pronounced dead Saturday night after rescue crews located him in the car. The girl was released from a hospital Monday.
The passer-by who saved her did not see the car go into the water, but observed bubbles rising in the area.
"He saw something unusual, him and his friends, so he jumped into the water and he realized it was a car," fire Capt. Kenison Tejada told KITV.
Tejada said the passer-by, whose name was also not released, opened the car door, reached inside and pulled the girl out.
McCarthy was backing his car out of a parking stall at the Waikiki Yacht Club when it hit two parked vehicles and plunged into the water, police said.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox