Two Dead After Vehicle Crashes Into Kalamazoo River

Two people have been killed after their car crashed into the Kalamazoo River early Friday morning.

Battle Creek Police Chief Jim Blocker tells 95.3 WBCK that an officer saw a flash around 4 am Friday, and determined that a vehicle was in the river. EMS crews responded quickly, and they were able to recover the vehicle after it got hung up just east of the Washington Ave. Bridge.

It appears at this time that the vehicle entered the river after it ran through a fence along Dickman Rd. in Battle Creek. The BCPD says in a release that it appears that the two victims are both males in their early thirties.

This is roughly the same area where a Hyundai Sonata crashed through on March 4; the river was much higher then, so that car was submerged for over a week before it was recovered Sunday, March 12. Police are still looking for the driver of the Hyundai.

Chief Blocker tells 95.3 WBCK that looking forward, police will be in cooperation with other experts to determine what makes the intersection of Dickman and Capital Ave. so prone to cars entering the river; in the past few months, three cars have now entered the river at or near that point.