Woman's body pulled from submerged car edging towards 187ft Niagara Falls drop

Heart-stopping footage shows a car edging towards the Niagara Falls 187ft drop before a woman's body was tragically pulled from the vehicle.

Authorities were called to the fast-flowing river after reports the car had entered further upstream and was floating towards the falls.

Footage from the scene shows the vehicle almost entirely submerged in the white water as a helicopter lowers a rescue worker into the waves.

After a two hour rescue effort, with the car coming within just 50 yards from the edge, a woman in her 60s was sadly confirmed dead.

During the operation, the US coast guard also used a drone in order to establish how many people were inside the vehicle.

The car came within 50 yards of the edge (New York State Office of Parks,)

Witnesses said the car had been swept downstream (REUTERS)

Coast guard diver, Derrian Duryea, was lowered into the water alongside the trapped vehicle.

He battled icy winds and rapid waves to enter through the passenger door of the car, which he managed to slide open against the strong current.

Duryea told KTLA he was entirely focused on the vehicle as he was being lowered for the rescue attempt.

He said: "As I was coming down I was just really focused on how am I going to get in this car when there’s, you know, pretty much rapids coming over the car right next to Niagara Falls.

Witnesses watch on as the car moves closer to the edge (REUTERS)

“Luckily, the car was unlocked and I didn’t have to break out any windows and I was able to open up the passenger side door and push it up against the current."

Jeff Prevel, a WGRZ reporter, said: "We saw a lot of tourists here taking pics trying to document what was going on.

"The rip currents are extremely fast - they are crashing and very aggressive

"It's also snowing here and cold as well. The question we had was how this driver and car was able to get into the water."

A rescue helicopter prepares to lower a team member into the waves (New York State Office of Parks,)

Prevel added: "A lot of people out there were troubled by what they saw and this was something that I'm probably going to have to talk to my loved ones and friends about to decompress."

An officer briefing reporters at the scene said: "We have never had a vehicle in the water this close to the brink.

"Our swift water team was not able to make a recovery."

Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, said she was “saddened by the tragic loss of life” and praised the “swift and heroic actions” of emergency crews.