A man survived five hours submerged in icy water after crashing car into a river.

Emergency services were called at around 5.20am on Wednesday after a car was spotted submerged in California’s Klamath River.

When officers from the California Highway Patrol and Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene they found a red Ford Fusion in the water and began work to pull it out of the water with the help of a tow truck.

Posted by CHP – Yreka on Wednesday, December 12, 2018

When the vehicle was removed just before 8am – more than two and a half hours after the emergency call – they found 28-year-old Michael Finn still alive inside.

Mr Finn told officers he believed he had crashed at around 3am – around five hours before the rescue.

He was able to survive by breathing from a pocket of air inside the car.

He was taken to a local medical centre and treated for exposure.