Family’s Van Plunges Into Newport Harbor, Pushed By Car

A family was rescued from the waters of Newport Harbor today when their van was apparently pushed off the Balboa Island ferry by the driver of another car.

The crash occurred about 9:20 a.m., when a Mercedes-Benz crashed into the van while the ferry was dockside at Balboa Island, officials said.

The family — a husband and wife from Taiwan and two children, ages 4 and 6 — were in the rental van, ABC7 reported.

“I saw the back of the van come up in the air, and then (it was) in the water bobbing, the next thing,” a witness told Channel 7.

“And the van had a man, and a woman, and children in the back,” the witness said. “And everybody was just kind of standing there … I called 911, and nobody was doing anything, except one of the young men with a ponytail on the ferry went into the water and went out to them.”

A boater in a skiff also went to the van, which floated for a few minutes, and the family was rescued moments before it sank. The circumstances of the crash were under investigation.

The ferry shuttles vehicles and passengers between Balboa Island and the Balboa Peninsula, a crossing of about 800 feet.