Body found in submerged car in E. Hampton

East Hampton Town Police Divers, and members of the East... — East Hampton Town Police Divers, and members of the East Hampton Ocean Rescue Squad look for a submerged car that drove off the commercial dock into Three Mile Harbor at the end of Gann Road Wednesday afternoon in East Hampton. (Jan. 4, 2012) Credit: Gordon M. Grant

By ELLEN YAN AND BILL MASON.ellen.yan@newsday.com.,bill.mason@newsday.comJanuary 4, 2012

Police divers have recovered a body from a car that drove off a boat launch ramp in East Hampton and sank Wednesday afternoon in Three Mile Harbor, authorities said.

The Coast Guard local command in Connecticut said it was notified by East Hampton Town police about the car at 2:30 p.m.

Police said there was only one person inside the submerged vehicle, according to Coast Guard spokesman Duty Officer Mark Averill. Information concerning the individual's identity was not released.

By 8:15 p.m., the car had been removed from the harbor on the north side of East Hampton, police said. Further details were not immediately available.

The incident echoes a similar accident Tuesday. Simon Flaherty, 80, of Hampton Bays, died after being pulled from a submerged car in the waters off Hampton Bays, Southampton Town police said.

He was the driver and lone occupant of a Lincoln sedan. Several people reported seeing the car leave the Meschutt County Park parking lot and sink in the Peconic Bay side of Shinnecock Canal, police said.

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