Image: Nine News

Two men have been lauded as heroes after rescuing an elderly couple from a submerged vehicle.

The couple, aged in their 80s, were travelling on Midland Highway in Creswick yesterday when their MG sedan veered off the road and careered into O’Keefes Dam at about 11am.

A brave man who was travelling behind them saw the accident, and immediately sprung into action.

The 39-year-old civilian dived in to the water to rescue the couple, opening the door and beginning to free the 82-year-old male driver before police arrived.

Leading Senior Constable Simon Barker was the first on the scene.

“I jumped in, helped the civilian pull the male out of the car,” he told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.

“We both took the male to the edge and went back to the car, and his wife was still in the car, and it was going under water.

“It (the water) was up to her chin and head area at the time.

“We found the latch to the seat belt and dragged her out.”

Mr Barker said the couple were “quite distressed” when he arrived.

“They’d both said to each other ‘goodbye, this is it.”

The police officer said he and the brave man who stopped to help made it just in time, estimating the woman was saved with just 30 seconds to spare.

“I got the call and I was only 10 seconds away,” he said.

“Right place, right time.”

Both passengers were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The cause of the accident is not yet known.

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