A woman was trapped in a car which crashed into the sea at Gzira yacht yacht marina early this morning.

People on the scene said the woman, 29 from Birkirkara, had given a lift to a foreign man who works on a yacht. She was driving her Toyota Vitz when the incident happened. The man, a 40 year-old Turk resident in Birkirkara managed to get out safely.

The woman was lifted out of the car by a volunteer diver assisted by the passenger two district policemen who had earlier tried in vain to perform the rescue but were thwarted by the murky conditions. Her condition is critical since she was in the water for a considerable time, people on the scene said.

She was taken to hospital in an ambulance after CPR was performed by the ambulance crew.

The incident happened shortly before 7 a.m.

The police are investigating.

The car was winched out of the water at about 10.30 a.m.