Sinking Tesla Driver Rescued by Floating Sauna-Goers
A floating sauna came to the rescue of two people in a Tesla that plunged into icy waters in Norway on Thursday, authorities said.
The car crashed into the Oslofjord in the Norwegian capital, according to local law enforcement. “When the car ended up in the water, two people were, it appears, inside,” Oslo police wrote in an X post. “They were pulled from the water by a floating sauna.”
Floating saunas—both stationary and mobile—are available to hire on the fjord. One motorized sauna being driven by Nicholay Nordahl, 26, was in the area at the time of the accident. “One of the guests came running and alerted me that a car had fallen into the water,” sauna skipper Nordahl told local tabloid VG. “I accelerated to full speed in the direction of the people.”
He said that the sauna arrived on the scene “just as the car went under.” Dramatic video footage filmed by a bystander appears to show the two Tesla motorists sitting on the roof of their sinking car, with the vehicle fully disappearing below the surface mere moments after the sauna comes to their aid. “With the help of two guests, we pulled them up,” Nordahl said. “They were able to warm up in the sauna.”
The driver of the Tesla—who was not named—also spoke to the newspaper, saying that he thought the car was in park when he hit the accelerator. “Then it drove into the water,” he said, describing the moment as a “terrible feeling.”
He said that he and the passenger escaped physically unharmed. “They saved our lives,” the driver said of his sauna saviors.
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