大卫·米切尔（David Mitchell）
倡导者，巴吞鲁日，路易斯安那州。
(MCT)
Jun. 21—St. George firefighters arrived in short order after a car launched into a roadside pond and submerged two Ascension Parish teens.
But the depth and cloudiness of the water so hampered first responders that the girls, both 16, couldn’t be pulled to the surface for more than a half hour after Sunday’s fatal crash, authorities said Monday.
消防人员在上午11:52的第一个911电话后五分钟内到达，但即使到那时，已经淹没的雪佛兰黑斑羚的位置的唯一迹象是见证人，他们看到了汽车倒闭，而15--表面的气泡在15--消防局发言人说，到20英尺深的池塘。
As other agencies scrambled to respond, six St. George firefighters tried in vain for 30 minutes to go under water, find the car and save the Prairieville teens, Caroline Smith and Chloe Hamilton, but were unable to reach or even see the car at the bottom.
圣乔治部发言人消防员梅格·克林（Meg Kling）说：“这很深，非常模糊。”
私人池塘位于珀金斯路（Perkins Road）的东侧，沿着东巴吞鲁日教区线（East Baton Rouge Parish Line）沿着Bayou Manchac南岸的大型空缺地段。
The pond edge is actually at a higher elevation than Perkins Road, also known as La. 427. On Monday, tire ruts, a shattered light fixture and damaged bushes and tree marked the path the car took. An athletic bag and flip-flops still floated in the water, while collections of spent plastic water bottles were in spots along the pond’s bank.
The Impala went off the right side of Perkins, across a gravel drive, over a shallow ditch, up an embankment and over the top edge through a short distance of grass into the cloudy, bluish pond.
升天公立学校官员说，史密斯是荷兰镇高中的一名学生，本来是秋天的大四学生。汉密尔顿没有上升天的公立学校，周一她上学并不清楚。
Attempts to reach the families of both girls were unsuccessful Monday.
The Rev. Jhontre Green, pastor of First Pilgrim Calvary Baptist Church in Geismar, said Smith’s family was part of his congregation.
格林说，史密斯在教堂的青年部和复活节和其他假期的年度戏剧表演中任职。他说，她是一个聪明的年轻女子，对自己的生活有巨大的愿望。
“当我与她谈论她想要的未来时，她对未来有一些很高的期望。因此，您知道这就是使它更加悲惨的事实，那就是，当您看到如此多的梦和愿望这么早就离开时，这总是一个困难的情况。”格林说。
He said Smith’s family is handling the tragic death as best as can be expected.
Lena Le, 17, a rising senior at Dutchtown High who is from Geismar, said she’s known Smith since they were in middle school and, for a time earlier in high school, ran cross country and track with Smith.
Le said Smith was really outgoing person and a jokester who tried lived life to the fullest.
“She’d light up the room, and she’d make everything fun,” Le said.
State troopers said they aren’t sure yet why Smith, who was driving, failed to negotiate a right-hand curve before the crash into the pond, but said the car vaulted into the pond after it hit a tree.
Troopers also don’t know if seatbelt use is a factor in the crash and the cause of death remains unclear.
Christian Reed, spokesman for State Police Troop A, said autopsies are pending as the investigation of the crash continues.
圣乔治消防官员说，池塘的深度超出了消防员在没有水下呼吸设备的情况下到达汽车的身体能力。
克林说，呼吸设备消防员用来进入燃烧和烟熏建筑物，可以在浅水深处使用，但池塘对于圣乔治的陆基设备太深了。
在回应的机构中，克林（Kling）和警长的女发言人证实，与东巴吞鲁日教区警长办公室的潜水员能够在30至33分钟的水中进入水中。
Despite the lack of visibility, divers found the car in about 15 feet of water using a type of regimented search pattern and pulled the girls to the surface, said Casey Rayborn Hicks, the spokeswoman for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office.
“That is a very quick response time for them to travel to the scene and put on all the appropriate gear for diving,” East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said in a statement. “The divers located the vehicle approximately seven minutes after entering the water.”
代表们和圣乔治消防员说，一旦女孩们离开水，紧急响应者就开始尝试挽救生命的措施，而两个女孩都被带到了地区医院。
But state troopers said later that the youths had died at the scene.
希克斯说，即使是汽车的位置，警长的潜水员之后也必须利用他们的触摸感来找到合适的位置来固定拖曳皮带，以便可以将汽车释放出池塘并拖走。
“This is a tragic situation, and my heart goes out to the families affected,” Gautreaux said.
School officials announced Smith’s death in a message to parents Monday and urged anyone with concerns to call school administrators or counselors.
“请知道我们在这里以任何方式提供帮助。今天，我们在校园内为任何需要帮助应对这场悲剧的学生或工作人员提供额外的辅导员。
他们补充说：“请让卡罗琳的家人和我们的整个学校社区保持您的思想和祈祷。”
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（c）2022倡导者，巴吞鲁日，路易斯安那州。
访问倡导者，路易斯安那州巴吞鲁日，网址为www.theadvocate.com
