Dramatic CCTV footage shows hero bystanders rescuing an elderly couple whose car plunged into a canal following a crash with another vehicle.

Good Samaritans jumped into the water and pulled the driver, Joseph Abitabile, 78, from the car as it sank in a Lindenhurst canal on Long Island, New York.

Rescuers then smashed a window to pull Mr Abitabile’s wife, Delores, 76, from the Mercury. An off-duty police officer performed CPR on the unconscious woman, saving her life.

Mustafa Tosun, one of the bystanders who saved the couple, told NBC New York: “I saw the car is going slowly, slowly down. I said, 'Oh my God... they’re gonna die. I have to do something. Then I jumped in the water."

The couple's Mercury car plunges into the canal on Long Island (
Image:
Suffolk County Police/YouTube)

He said he didn't think about his own safety when he reacted and helped pull Mr Abitabile from the sinking car.

Mr Tosun added: "I said, 'I don't care, I have to save this life'."

The Abitabiles car crashed through a fence and plunged into the water after it collided with a Subaru on a road in Lindenhurst, about 40 miles east of Manhattan.

The couple, from Massapequa, one of the Good Samaritans, two Suffolk County police officers and Subaru driver Morris Kramer, 85, were taken to hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The car crashed into the water after colliding with a Subaru (
Image:
Suffolk County Police/YouTube)
Witnesses leaped into the water and pulled the husband and wife from the vehicle (
Image:
Suffolk County Police/YouTube)

A police spokesperson said: "Two Suffolk County Police officers, a Lake Success Police officer and five Good Samaritans rescued a couple from their vehicle after it became submerged in a Lindenhurst canal following a motor vehicle crash.

"A 2018 Ford pickup and 2016 Subaru were involved in a motor vehicle crash at Venetian Promenade and Montauk Highway at approximately 12:10pm.

"Following the crash, the driver of the Subaru backed up his vehicle into eastbound Montauk Highway, where it was struck by a 2004 Mercury.

"The Mercury then crashed through a fence and into a canal.

"Five Good Samaritans, off-duty Suffolk County Police Officer John Tighe and on-duty Suffolk County Police Officer Debra Gearon jumped into the water and pulled from the vehicle.

"Rescuers broke a window to extricate Abitabile’s wife, Delores, 76, who was unconscious.

"Off-duty Lake Success Police Officer Robert Russo performed CPR on the woman and her pulse and breathing were restored.

"The Abitabiles, of Massapequa, one Good Samaritan, the two Suffolk County Police officers, and the driver of the Subaru, Morris Kramer, 85, of Atlantic Beach, were transported to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

"The driver of the Ford, Greg Destefano, was not injured."