A police van transporting two shackled mental health patients was overcome by floodwaters in South Carolina on Tuesday night — leaving both detainees dead after cops failed to set them free, officials said.
The van was attempting to cross a flooded area of Highway 76 in Marion County when it got swept away, according to cops.
It was being driven by deputies from the Horry County Sheriff’s Office.
Coroner Jerry M. Richardson told WLOS that the victims were both female and were chained up in the back of the van. The deputies transporting them managed to escape, but the women were unable to do so.
Police officials told the Sun News that the deputies tried to help the victims, but couldn’t open the van doors because the water was rising too fast.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division reportedly is investigating the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
“Tonight’s incident is a tragedy,” said Horry County Sheriff Phillip Thompson. “Just like you, we have questions we want answered.”
The deputies had been scheduled to drop off the pair at nearby hospitals and were driving near the Little Pee Dee River, which had been rapidly rising due to Hurricane Florence.
“They were trying to negotiate through fast-running water, and it just didn’t work out,” Richardson told the Associated Press.
The incident brings Florence’s death toll to 37.
With Post wires