LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 74-year-old man and his car are safe after he drove onto a frozen pond in Lincoln.

The man was pulling into the parking lot at CHI St. Elizabeth hospital when he lost control of his car, left the roadway, and dropped onto a nearby pond.

The pond was covered with a 6-inch layer of ice, which was thick enough to support the Buick Lucerne. Witnesses helped the man out of the car and off the pond and contacted authorities. He was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Firefighters and a towing company used blocks of wood to create a series of steps so they could walk the vehicle over a retaining wall surrounding the pond and onto dry ground.