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Woman drives US$300,000 Maserati GranTurismo into pond after checking WeChat messages

Driver says she was trying to avoid crashing into a truck, but insurance company says it won’t be paying out

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A crane pulls the US$300,000 Maserati sports car from a pond in Nanjing. The driver said she lost control of the high-powered vehicle after swerving to avoid a truck. Photo: News.qq.com
Stephen Chenin Beijing

A woman who drove a 2 million yuan (US$300,000) sports car into a pond in eastern China on Friday said she lost control of the high-powered vehicle after taking her eyes off the road to check her phone, local media reported.

The unnamed driver of the bright red Maserati GranTurismo was visiting Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, when she apparently misread the road and drove straight into the water, police officer Xu Jie said in a report by Jiangsu Television on Saturday.

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The driver said she managed to climb out of the car through a side window with the help of some bystanders. Photo: News.qq.com
The driver said she managed to climb out of the car through a side window with the help of some bystanders. Photo: News.qq.com

“There was a turn in the road, but the car overshot,” he said.

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“When I arrived at the scene, the woman had just got out of the water. She was shaking because of the freezing cold, and a pool of water had formed at her feet,” Xu said.

In a separate report by Modern Express Daily on Saturday, the woman was quoted as saying that she was not from the area but was on a sightseeing trip and was unfamiliar with the roads.

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