Canal Crash Kills 2; EB SR 836 Reopens After Shutdown

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Two men were killed early Friday morning after their Porsche plunged into a Miami canal.

Investigators said Hector Cartagena and Wilmer Espana died when their Porsche plunged into a canal on 836 eastbound near Le Jeune road.

Florida Highway Patrol officials believe speed was a factor in the accident.

"I heard a big crash type of sound," said Vinicio Marmolejos who lives across from the canal. "We smelled the smell of burned rubber."

The crash happened just before 2:00 am on 836 eastbound near the 42nd Avenue exit.

According to FHP, a brand new 2014 white 2-door Porsche Carrera was speeding down the highway when the driver lost control. The car hit a guardrail, rode it for about 500 feet, then crossed three lanes of traffic before it smashed through another guardrail and ended up in the water.

"The car split the guardrail in half and the car fell in the canal," explained Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Joe Sanchez.

"I heard a loud bang, went outside and saw some water splashing and some smoke," said Marmolejos."It's tragic and Christmas is right around the corner."

Both men inside the car were in their early thirties.

Miami Fire Rescue officials said it was difficult to locate the car because it was dark outside, the vehicle was completely submerged and the water was murky.

"After a short search, firefighters found floating engine debris along with a wallet that was along the embankment of the canal," said Lt. Ignatius Carroll with Miami Fire Rescue.  "Divers went in, we found one victim that was inside the vehicle that we pulled out and was unresponsive and a second victim that was outside of the car. Both men were pulled out and paramedics performed CPR on them."

One man was ejected from the car and found in the water, a second was still trapped inside the car when rescue crews arrived. Both were unresponsive by the time dive teams pulled them out.

A tow truck pulled the banged up car out of the canal just before 7:00 am.

Eastbound 836 was shutdown to traffic for several hours.