Two American tourists had a lucky escape after their car plunged into the sea in Kerry - when a quick-thinking local came to their rescue.

The couple - believed to be in their 70s and staying in Killarney - were saved after their car came off a slipway and into the sea on Valentia Island yesterday afternoon.

Local man Mike Moriarty ( 21) was enjoying a pint at the pub in the Royal Hotel in Knightstown when a lady who was also finishing her lunch tapped him on the shoulder and said she thought she saw something going off the slipway near the clock tower ledge.

“I looked and couldn’t see anything but I walked over and I could see a silver car in the water,” said Mike.

He himself had only just arrived home on holidays from Malta where he works on a yacht, the previous day.

Alongside the slipway wall he could see a silver car nose down in the water and two elderly people inside.

“I took out my phone and wallet and jumped in,” he said.

However, they could not open the driver door.

And in order to re-balance the car he went for the back door and this action immediately allowed the water in and the nose of the car to reposition itself.

“It equalised the pressure and I was able to open the drivers’ door,” he said.

The couple had been visiting the island in convoy with three or four other cars - also believed to be tourists.

The car was taken from the water by a local garage and the couple got a lift back to Killarney from others in the convoy.

Online Editors