Two motorists were rescued by a floating sauna after their Tesla vehicle crashed into the Oslo Harbour. Image source: Pudelek, via Wikimedia Commons.
A floating sauna rescued two motorists from a sinking Tesla after the vehicle plunged into an icy fjord in Oslo, Norway.
Oslo police confirmed that when the car landed in the water, two people were reportedly inside the vehicle — they were pulled out by a sauna boat.
Agence France-Presse obtained a video recorded by a witness.
The video appears to show two people sitting on top of the partially submerged Tesla when the sauna boat sails past and pulls them on board.
The driver, not identified, told Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang (VG) that he believed the car was in park when he tapped the accelerator.
The vehicle shot off the pier into the freezing harbour.
The water temperature in Oslo was approximately 0.89 degrees Celsius on Thursday, 1 February.
According to the University of Minnesota, humans can survive these temperatures for only 15 to 45 minutes with floatation.
A guest on the floating sauna reportedly spotted the sinking Tesla.
“It was surreal, not exactly something you expect when you’re at work,” the boat’s skipper Nicholay Nordahl told VG.
“One of the guests came running and alerted me that a car had landed in the water.
“With good help from the guests, we got them up.”
The motorists were able to warm themselves in the sauna.
“They actually helped save our lives,” the driver told VG.
Floating saunas are popular in Oslo, with several boats available for hire.
Reuters reported that Tesla cars have been the highest selling vehicle in Norway for the past three years.
The Norwegian governments offers subsidies for electric car purchases, with the intent to eliminate petrol car sales.
But the automotive company faces union backlash across Scandinavia after it refused to sign a collective bargaining agreement with its Swedish mechanics.
Norwegian dock workers are refusing to unload Tesla shipments in a show of solidarity.
The waterlogged Tesla was later retrieved from the fjord by a tow truck.
