Tesla submerges in Kraków reservoir during boat retrieval operation
Firefighters, specialized water rescue divers, and police recovered an electric car from the Bagry reservoir in Kraków after a driver attempted to pull a boat onto the shore.
Incident at Bagry reservoir
An emergency recovery operation took place on Saturday at the Bagry reservoir in Kraków after an electric vehicle ended up completely underwater. The driver had driven a Tesla to the edge of the reservoir with the intention of pulling a boat out of the water. During the maneuver, the towing attempt failed, resulting in both the watercraft and the electric car entering the reservoir. The vehicle sank entirely beneath the surface of the water, leaving both the boat and the car submerged near the bank. Witnesses and the vehicle owner reported the situation to municipal emergency services, requesting technical assistance to pull the vehicle back to the shore.
Deployment of specialized rescue units
Upon receiving the report of a fully submerged electric vehicle, emergency dispatchers mobilized multiple specialized rescue units to the scene at the Bagry reservoir. First responders included firefighting personnel from Kraków's Fire and Rescue Unit No. 4 (Jednostka Ratowniczo-Gaśnicza nr 4) alongside officers from the police department. Because the electric car was resting completely underwater beyond the reach of standard land-based towing cables, dispatchers also mobilized the Specialist Water and Diving Rescue Group (Specjalistyczna Grupa Ratownictwa Wodno-Nurkowego). Police officers secured the surrounding shoreline area while emergency commanders assessed the water depth and the exact location of the submerged vehicle. The multi-agency deployment ensured that technical diving personnel and land-based heavy recovery apparatus were coordinated simultaneously at the water's edge.
During an attempt to pull a boat out of the water, a complete submersion of the electric car occurred.
Underwater technical operation
To prepare the submerged vehicle for extraction, certified divers from the Specialist Water and Diving Rescue Group geared up and entered the Bagry reservoir. The divers swam down to the submerged Tesla to inspect its mounting points beneath the surface. They secured a dedicated towing hook to the chassis of the vehicle, establishing a firm anchor point needed for land-based recovery machinery. Firefighters confirmed that completing this underwater rigging was essential to ensure the vehicle could be hauled out without detaching mid-recovery. Once the towing hook was locked into place, the divers returned to the surface and signaled that the extraction could safely begin.
- Tesla enters the Bagry reservoir while attempting to pull a boat ashore.
- Fire and Rescue Unit No. 4, police, and water rescue divers arrive at the reservoir.
- Specialist divers enter the water and attach a towing hook to the submerged vehicle.
- Fire engine winch and a recovery tow truck haul the electric car onto dry land.
Extraction with winch and recovery truck
Following the successful attachment of the towing hook by the dive team, emergency crews began the physical extraction from the shoreline. Firefighters set up the mechanical winch of a heavy fire engine, pairing it with a specialized recovery tow truck positioned near the water's edge. The combined pulling force of the fire engine winch and the tow truck gradually hauled the submerged Tesla up the shoreline bank and onto dry land. Following the conclusion of the operation, Jednostka Ratowniczo-Gaśnicza nr 4 published a formal summary of the Saturday intervention on social media, describing the joint effort between firefighters, specialized divers, and police to recover the submerged electric vehicle.
