BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Louisiana State Police say that two teenagers, both 16, died after their vehicle went into a pond on Sunday afternoon.
Around noon, 10 agencies responded to the 18000 block of Old Perkins Road about a car stuck in a ditch.
The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office says the car went into a pond on Sunday and the EBRSO Dive team extracted them.
Louisiana State Police confirmed Sunday that the vehicle involved was a black Chevrolet Impala and identified the deceased teenagers as 16-year-old Caroline Smith and 16-year-old Chloe Hamilton of Prairieville.
The St. George Fire Department (SGFD) says that the original call involved a car stuck in a ditch, but was changed to a car in a pond with people trapped. After arriving at the scene, Engine 683 and Medic Unit 687 found the pond with evidence of a vehicle having gone underwater.
Both units had firefighters put on life vests to begin searching underwater. After a primary sweep of the immediate area, the firefighters determined that the water was too deep for a simple search. SGFD changed into gear to assist them in diving deeper.
SGFD and the Prairieville fire departments went into the water to search for the vehicle but determined that assistance from other agencies would be necessary.
The St. George Fire Department says that the Prairieville Fire Department, Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, EBRSO, Eastside Fire Department Dive Team, EBRSO Dive Team, East Baton Rouge EMS, Acadian Ambulance, and the Louisiana State Police all responded to the scene.
This is a developing story.