Porterville man dies when vehicle is submerged in canal

A Porterville man was killed Wednesday when his 2004 Ford drove off the roadway west of Porterville and ended up submerged in the Friant Kern Canal, the California Highway Patrol said.

The CHP was notified about 1:45 p.m. that the Ford, traveling east on Avenue 160 just east of Road 212, had driven off the road, severed a Southern California Edison power pole, smashed through a guardrail and overturned into the canal.

The 57-year-old man who was driving died of his injuries, the CHP said. Investigators are trying to determine why the crash happened.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Porterville man dies when vehicle is submerged in canal."