Baby survives 14 hours strapped to seat in river after car crash that killed her mother

An 18-month-old baby survived a car crash and spent 14 hours strapped upside down to her seat after the vehicle hurtled into a near-freezing river.

Infant Lily Groesbeck was found by fishermen hanging upside down in the car, with the river’s waters never reaching high enough to touch her, Police Lieutenant Matt Johnson told a local newspaper.

Her mother, 25-year-old Lynn Groesbeck, was found dead in the driver’s seat.

The mother and baby were on their way home to Springville city, in the US state of Utah, when the car struck a cement barrier on a bridge and careened into the Spanish Fork River.

The temperature dipped to about 0 to 3 degrees Celsius overnight while the baby was trapped in the car.

Police investigators believe the accident happened at around 10.30pm on Friday, as a resident near the accident site reported hearing an unusual sound. But the resident could not find anything out of the ordinary when checking the area.

Lynn Groesbeck’s family said she had just been to her parents’ home in Salem that night, before heading home.