Two Turkish nationals were found dead in their car in the Dutch town of Zaandam after reportedly driving into a canal.

The two young women, Ayşe Kapçı and 19-year-old Sümeyye Öksüz, were reported missing when they did not return home after going shopping last week.

“When we couldn't get in touch with our children for a long time and our concerns mounted, I went to the police and asked for help. They said there was nothing they could do,” Burhan Öksüz, the uncle of Sümeyye Öksüz, was quoted as saying by the Doğan news agency.

Öksüz harshly criticized the police for ignoring their call for help at the police station, and noted that he and a friend had started a search for the girls, checking places they might be.

“When I saw the license plate of the car from the back and that half of the car was sunk in the Zaan canal, I was devastated. We lost two of our young,” Öksüz said.

The car was driven into the Zaan canal in the Prins Hendrikkade neighborhood. Police called in the fire department to pull the car from the canal. Divers also came to the scene to conduct a search in the canal, but their help was not necessary as the bodies of the women were found in the car.

Police noted that the seat belts were fastened when their bodies were recovered from the car.

The two women are suspected of losing control of their car and driving it into the canal, officials reported, but it has yet to be confirmed as the police are still investigating the incident, Today’s Zaman reported.