One killed, driver with stab wound rescued from car in river; Driver arrested

An investigation was ongoing into a weekend mystery where a dead body was found inside a car fished out of the Nieuwe Maas river. Police in Rotterdam say they arrested the driver of the car, a 38-year-old Rotterdammer, who managed to escape the vehicle despite having a stab wound.

It was not immediately clear how or when the car wound up in the water, but the Rotterdam driver emerged from the water between 2:30 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Sunday. He was taken to an area hospital by ambulance, police said.

Duikers hebben vanavond in het water langs de Parkkade in Rotterdam een auto met daarin een stoffelijk overschot aangetroffen. Er werd naar de auto gezocht nadat er een nacht eerder een gewonde man uit het water was gered met steekwonden. Een misdrijf wordt niet uitgesloten. pic.twitter.com/OZDhTZd6LC

— Joey Bremer (@010fotograaf) December 23, 2019

Police told broadcaster Rijnmond that roughly a half-day later he told officers there was another person in the car when it hit the water. Divers and investigators on boats equipped with sonar combed a section of the river for hours.

"Just before midnight, the police located the actual car using sonar equipment. This was lifted onto the quay with the help of a crane," police said. The body of a woman was removed from the vehicle’s passenger side just after midnight on Monday.

"The relationship between the man and the woman is being investigated."

The car, a dark-colored Mercedes-Benz sedan, had a German license plate, photos taken at the scene show. Authorities asked for anyone with knowledge of the case, or anyone who witnessed something suspicious, to contact them directly.