By J.R. Williams -- jrwilliams@nvdaily.com

WOODSTOCK -- Three women were hospitalized Wednesday night when an SUV they were riding in drove down an embankment off Ridgeley Road and landed in shallow waters of the Shenandoah River.

The driver of the SUV, a white Toyota Highlander, was trying to back down a steep driveway, said Martha Heisel, of Star Tannery, who was hosting a book club meeting with the women at the home of a friend.

The Toyota instead rolled down a steep hill, onto the dirt road and down an embankment into the river, Heisel said.

The names or conditions of the injured could not be immediately confirmed, but Heisel said no one appeared seriously injured.

The car landed upright in the water facing downstream, she said. While the women inside could open the windows, they could not open the doors, she said.

"They were shaken up," she said. "It was almost like they hit the accelerator instead of the brake."

Heisel ran to a neighbor's home, where Lydia Owens called 911.

"I heard the lady screaming, 'Please help, please help,'" Owens said. "They kept backing up, and the car flipped ... into the water."

The women were brought from the car to the road individually by rescue crews, Heisel said, and taken to a hospital.

The Toyota was removed from the river and towed away.

For further developments, visit nvdaily.com or read the print edition of The Northern Virginia Daily.

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