The Toyota Vitz was finally lifted out of the marina at about 10.30am. Photos: Jason Borg

A 29-year-old woman was in a critical condition after she drove off the Ta’ Xbiex yacht marina into the sea and spent some 30 minutes trapped in the sinking car before rescuers managed to haul her out, according to witnesses.

The incident happened just before 7am yesterday when the Birkirkara woman dropped off a 40-year-old man who is a Turkish national at one of the yachts where he works.

“We heard a loud splash at about 6.45am.

“When we peeked out of our boat we saw a man in the sea screaming ‘Michelle, Michelle’,” witnesses told The Sunday Times of Malta.

“The poor man was in a terrible state,” they added

The police, who received the distress call at 7am, were informed that a Toyota Vitz had ended up in the sea at the marina, located close to the Gżira gardens where the yachts are berthed.

It’s a terrible, sickening feeling because we were helpless

The Turkish man, who also lives in Birkirkara, was the first to dive in to try to rescue the woman.

One witness, who lives in the area, said it took her mother a few minutes to realise that a car had been driven into the sea.

“She heard a man shouting, ‘Michelle open the door’. There was no commotion and, as the morning joggers were still running oblivious to what was unfolding nearby, she assumed a couple were having an argument... then we saw a car in the sea,” the witness said.

The Turkish man, who was still in the sea, was joined by two policemen who borrowed dive masks from neighbouring boats, stripped down and swam out to help.

Her body looked lifeless and they were trying to resuscitate her

But the car, which had drifted about 15 metres from the quay, flipped on its side and started to sink beneath the murky water.

The grey Vitz landed on its roof on a seabed of silt at a depth of about six metres, making the rescuers’ task doubly hard.

Witnesses said time passed interminably slowly and fears for the woman’s life started to creep in.

“It’s horrendous to watch something like that unfold...

“It’s a terrible, sickening feeling because we were helpless and there was nothing we could do to help,” the witnesses said.

Then out of nowhere a diver appeared in a “little white boat” and finally succeeded in freeing the woman from her car.

Together with the help of the two police constables, she was brought ashore and given first aid.

“Her body looked lifeless and they were trying to resuscitate her – it was horrible...

“Her poor friend, who was hysterical, was sitting in the police car watching all this,” one witness said.

Another witness expressed surprise that the young woman was still alive after “all the time” she had spent down there.

The Vitz was eventually hauled out of the sea at 10.30am – the windscreen was shattered but intact, its roof was dented and the front bumper was dangling. It was established that the woman had driven headlong into the sea, knocking off the extension of a gang plank that was bolted on to the quay. Police experts on site were comparing the width of this plank with the two black marks indented on the car’s front bumper.

It has yet to be established how the car ended up in the sea.

Duty magistrate Ian Farrugia has ordered an inquiry.