California
Car falls 75 meters – all occupants survive
The completely wrecked car that fell about 75 meters off a cliff on the Pacific Coast Highway. photo
© Uncredited/San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office/AP/dpa
Dramatic rescue operation on the Pacific Coast Highway south of San Francisco: Two adults and two children are rescued alive. The background to the accident is still unclear.
Rescue workers speak of a “miracle”: All four occupants of a car – two adults and two children – survived a 75-meter fall from a cliff in the US state of California. According to media reports, the driver allegedly steered the car off the road on purpose to kill himself and the others in the vehicle. An arrest warrant was issued against the 42-year-old for attempted murder. However, the background is still unclear.
According to the police, the car went off the road about 30 kilometers south of San Francisco on the Pacific Coast Highway on Monday and fell off a cliff. The point, which is up to 90 meters deep, is known as the “Devil’s Slide”.
The driver, his 41-year-old companion, a seven-year-old boy and a four-year-old boy were taken to the hospital with serious injuries, it said. It was unclear what relationship the inmates had to one another. At first it was said that it was a couple and their children. According to media reports, the driver is a doctor and works in Los Angeles.
“Unfortunately, we come to such operations far too often. It was nothing short of a miracle that they survived,” fire chief Brian Pottenger told reporters at the scene of the accident. The car overturned several times and landed on its wheels on a rocky stretch of coast. Such accidents were usually fatal.
To save the children, firefighters abseiled from the street. The two adults were rescued by a helicopter. The police posted a video of the dramatic rescue operation, which was complicated by strong winds. The rescuers themselves had risked their lives in the operation, it said.