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Father dies after rescuing child from vehicle after it plunges into pond in Indianapolis

Posted at 5:14 PM, Mar 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-26 11:06:11-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- A father died Sunday evening from the injuries he sustained while rescuing his 3-year-old daughter from a vehicle after it rolled into a pond on Indianapolis' north side.

Divers and rescuers were called to a pond on Fluvia Terrace after 4:30 p.m. local time. 

Witnesses told police that the father had stopped to talk to someone and left his 3-year-old in the vehicle. The child hit the gear and shifted the car into reverse, rolling it into the pond. 

The father and another man ran after the vehicle and were able to pull the child out. She was awake and talking to rescuers, according to Rita Reith with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The child was taken to the hospital in critical condition. 

The child's father, who could not swim, was submerged in the water for roughly ten minutes. He was pulled out by rescuers and rushed to the hospital without a pulse. He later regained his pulse but was unable to survive his injuries and died just after 11:30 p.m.

He was identified as Anthony Burgess Jr., 24. 

The bystander who helped rescue the child was also taken to the hospital and treated for hypothermia.