• Three teens drown after their car overturns in a swimming pool

• Authorities investigating circumstances surrounding the accident

Three teenagers lost their lives when their car skidded off the road, crashed into a wall, and flipped into a private swimming pool, trapping them inside.

The car, roughly the same size as the pool, left the teens—aged 14, 15, and 19—unable to open the doors, causing them to drown.

The unusual accident occurred in the town of Alès.

Prosecutor Abdel Karim Greni said, “It was truly a nightmare. It wasn’t the collision that killed them, but being trapped upside down in icy water with no way out. They had no chance.”

Unconfirmed reports suggest the youngest victim may have been driving at the time of the accident.

Greni described the incident, which occurred during a heavy rainstorm, as the result of an “incredible chain of circumstances.”

He explained that the car crashed through a low garden wall and flipped before landing “on all four wheels in the air.”

The alarm was not raised for several hours, after which firefighters rushed to drain the pool and remove the car. A local channel reported that the pool was about 1.5 meters deep.

According to French reports, nitrous oxide canisters—commonly used recreationally for relaxation and dizziness—were found inside the vehicle.

An investigation has been opened to determine the cause of death, and the three victims’ bodies were taken to the Nîmes forensic institute for autopsies.