Pictured: Girl, 17 who drowned when her car plunged off a riverbank i

Pictured: Girl, 17 who drowned when her car plunged off a riverbank into deep water – as hero motorists pull her friend to safety

  • Logan Bradford, 17, died after her car plunged into the Richmond River
  • Two people were in the car when it landed in the Richmond River at South Ballina
  • Passersby dived into the water to rescue them but only the passenger survived  
  • Police are working to retrieve the car which is six metres below the surface

A young couple dived into a rushing river in a desperate attempt to save a teenage girl after her car plunged into deep water.

Logan Bradford, 17, drowned when she was trapped in the silver Mazda 2 that missed a bend and drove into the Richmond River about 11.45am on Tuesday.

Her 17-year-old friend managed to free herself from the sinking car with the help of rescuers near South Ballina on the NSW North Coast.

Passing motorist Luke Hyatt dived into the six-metre-deep river and tried to pull Logan from the submerging car while his wife Katelyn called Triple-0.  

Logan Bradford, 17, drowned when she was trapped in her silver Mazda 2 that missed a bend and drove into the Richmond River

Passing motorist Luke Hyatt (right) dived into the six-metre-deep river and tried to pull Logan from the submerging car while his wife Katelyn called Triple-0

Passing motorist Luke Hyatt (right) dived into the six-metre-deep river and tried to pull Logan from the submerging car while his wife Katelyn called Triple-0

The couple were joined by another car they waved down, plus three police officers, but they couldn’t get to her and Logan drowned in the driver’s seat of her car.

NSW Police said the three civilians and the sergeant and two senior constables would be considered for bravery awards. 

Friends mourned Logan as a ray of sunshine, telling Daily Mail Australia of her ‘bright personality’ and how she had more to give to her loved ones.

‘You were such a beautiful soul and I’ll forever love you, you helped me through so much and I’ll never forget you darling girl,’ Alanah Harcourt said.

Friends mourned Logan as a ray of sunshine with a 'bright personality' and told of how she had more to give to her loved ones

Friends mourned Logan as a ray of sunshine with a ‘bright personality’ and told of how she had more to give to her loved ones

Domonic Cooper added: ‘She is bright bubbly, always has a smile, always ready to give a hand to anyone possible.’

Aliviaa Ranierii said Logan was a beautiful young women with too much potential in her to die so young. 

‘She was the kind of girl you’d walk past in school and wouldn’t suspect her to do anything, she was the kindest most sweetest girl you’d ever met,’ she said.

‘She always knew how to make you laugh or smile when you were down. and even if she didn’t even know you at all, that would give her more motivation to wanna help you out more.’ 

Several passersby frantically dived into the Richmond River at South Ballina to rescue the pair, but only the female front-seat passenger could escape

Several passersby frantically dived into the Richmond River at South Ballina to rescue the pair, but only the female front-seat passenger could escape

Logan’s body was eventually recovered about 5.30pm on Tuesday. Police said the surviving female passenger was ‘shaken’ but unharmed.  

The vehicle was recovered a short time later and towed away for mechanical examination. 

A report will be prepared for the coroner. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk