Three fishermen are being hailed as heroes after pulling a woman from a sinking car in Cork city this afternoon.

The dramatic rescue happened on Kennedy Quay after a car entered the water shortly after midday today.

Fishermen unloading the day’s catch from two boats on the quay jumped in the water and smashed in the two windows to save the woman before the car sank.

Rescue

Belgian fisherman Farid Landgens told Newstalk how he got involved in the rescue.

“We were just finishing unloading and someone was shouting, ‘There’s a car in the water, a car in the water,’” he said.

“We saw the car passing but we couldn’t catch it because of the currents – it went by too fast.

“So, we ran up to the next ship and luckily the car bounced against the ship in front so we had time to jump on the ship and take a rope with a hook.

“Then I jumped into the water to hook the car so it couldn’t drift further.

“Then somebody smashed the rear window and there was a woman inside. We asked her if she was OK and if she was alone.

“She was OK but then we asked her if she was able to move and we smashed in the front window at the passenger side and we pulled her out from there.

“Luckily, she was OK. We were able to put her on the ship and yeah, she was OK.”

'Heroic at the highest level'

Cork City Fire Brigade Second Officer Victor Shine described the fisherman’s actions as “heroic at the highest level”.

“You have a car that is floating past your vessel and without hesitation, three members of the crew entered the water, broke the rear window of the vehicle, got the casualty, removed the casualty from the car and secured the vehicle to their trawler,” he said.

“An amazing piece of work.”

Emergency services including two fire trucks were called to the scene on Kennedy Quay this afternoon.

The woman has been taken to Mercy University Hospital for treatment.