A CAR swerved off a road and plunged into a waterway in a horrific accident that claimed the lives of three people last night.A young man managed to escape from the car and swim to safety before flagging down a passing motorist who alerted the police.

A CAR swerved off a road and plunged into a waterway in a horrific accident that claimed the lives of three people last night.

A young man managed to escape from the car and swim to safety before flagging down a passing motorist who alerted the police.

The accident happened at New River Bank between Littleport and Queen Adelaide in Cambridgeshire, close to the Suffolk border.

At 3.47pm Cambridgeshire police control received a report that a car, which had four people inside, had gone into the watercourse and a rescue operation was launched immediately.

A specialist team from Spartan Rescue assisted in the rescue and a pontoon was built on the river to help the search.

The police helicopter was also called in and at 8pm Cambridgeshire police confirmed that the team had found a car in the water beside the road.

Working with the fire brigade, they managed to right the blue Vauxhall Cavalier and then winch it to the side of the waterway.

The bodies of two men and a woman were recovered from the vehicle at about 6.35pm and taken to the mortuary at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

The young man, who was not thought to be seriously injured in the accident, was also taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital for treatment.

Cambridgeshire police were last night unable to supply further details on the people involved in the crash.

The road was closed overnight while officers investigated the accident and diversions to Littleport were set up by the police.

A spokesman for East Anglian Ambulance Trust said: "Ambulances were dispatched at 3.51pm. We sent a rapid response paramedic, an ambulance officer, four vehicles and a doctor.

"The car was submerged underwater; three people were trapped and one male had got out. The fire service tried to get them out.

"The male, who was approximately 20-years-old, was treated at the scene for hypothermia and was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital. At 4.33pm the diving team arrived and recovered three other people."

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire fire service said crews from Ely and Cambridgeshire attended the scene.

A Suffolk police spokesman said officers from the county were not called on to help with the accident.