Fairfax County police have recovered the bodies of two men who apparently drowned in a pond near the Staybridge Suites in Chantilly.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department units, including boats, were dispatched to the 3900 block of Centerview Drive at 7:26 a.m. for a water rescue, according to scanner traffic.
“Caller is advising a vehicle is in the water and sinking, possibly two inside,” a dispatcher told responders.
Responders confirmed around 7:30 a.m. that two people were still in a vehicle that was completely submerged in the water. Boats were deployed on the pond to search for the vehicle, which was found at approximately 7:53 a.m. about 10 feet deep in the water.
Two men were pulled out of the vehicle around 8:20 a.m. and declared deceased at the scene, the Fairfax County Police Department reported at 8:51 a.m.
In an update shared just before 4 p.m., police identified the driver as 55-year-old Karna Khadka and 20-year-old Nischal Bhatta, both of them Chantilly residents.
Based on a preliminary investigation, detectives believe Khadka was driving in a private parking lot when the vehicle “went over the curb and down a hill into the pond.” It’s unclear whether any lingering snow and ice from Monday’s storm might’ve been a factor in the crash.
“The circumstances surrounding the crash are still being investigated,” the FCPD said.
Officers are on scene of a drowning near the 3900 block of Centerview Drive in Chantilly where a submerged vehicle was located in a pond. Preliminarily, two adult males were declared deceased at the scene. Detectives are on scene to investigate. pic.twitter.com/Zi7t3rs186
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) January 9, 2025
