Utah baby survives car crash after 14 hours in freezing river

Infant found hanging upside down above the river water that flowed through the car

Police say an 18-month-old baby was found alive, and the mother found dead, in a car which had plunged into Utah's Spanish Fork River the night before. Video: Reuters

A baby survived a car crash in a freezing Utah river after being strapped in a car seat upside-down for about 14 hours before being found by a fisherman.

Police said the 18-month-old girl’s condition was upgraded from critical to stable but at a Salt Lake City hospital, but her 25-year-old mother, Lynn Groesbeck, of Springville, was found dead in the car.

A spokesman said a fisherman discovered the car on its roof at about 12.30pm on Saturday in the Spanish Fork River in Spanish Fork near Provo in Utah.

A spokesman said a fisherman discovered the car on its roof at about 12.30pm on Saturday in the Spanish Fork River in Spanish Fork near Provo in Utah. Photograph: Screengrab from Reuters video
A spokesman said a fisherman discovered the car on its roof at about 12.30pm on Saturday in the Spanish Fork River in Spanish Fork near Provo in Utah. Photograph: Screengrab from Reuters video

He said a nearby resident reported hearing something about 10.30pm on Friday but was unable to locate anything out of the ordinary.

The infant was found hanging upside down above the river water that flowed through the car.

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