Van Drops Off 175-Foot Cliff. Officials Are Shocked When They Find the Driver

Jack Phillips
By Jack Phillips
April 15, 2018General
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Van Drops Off 175-Foot Cliff. Officials Are Shocked When They Find the Driver
(AP/Screenshot)

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A man was rescued after his vehicle plunged off a seaside cliff in Northern California.

The grey minivan careened over the side of Highway 1 along Devil’s Slide in San Mateo County, located south of San Francisco in the Bay Area, NBC reported.

The van fell approximately 150 to 175 feet before it plunged into the ocean, Cal Fire Battalion Chief David Casgrave said.

Specifically, Casgrave told CBS San Francisco that the unnamed driver “swerved and then careened over the edge and into the ocean.”

“We arrived on the scene to find the vehicle completely submerged,” Cosgrave added. “The van was in the surfline in a deep ravine.”

Crews were able to rescue the driver at around 9 a.m. local time on Friday, KCRA-TV reported. Several agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, were called to assist in rescuing the man.

Casgrave noted that the driver had gotten out of the vehicle and climbed onto the rocks. The man didn’t appear to be seriously injured, but he was taken via ambulance to San Francisco General Hospital. His condition was not immediately known, CBS reported.

“He claimed to not have any serious injuries,” Cosgrove said. “We were able to bring him up on a rope system and he was treated for paramedics for hypothermia.”

The van was partially submerged when officials found it, bobbing in the ocean surf.

“It’s underwater and probably won’t be recovered,” Cosgrove said.

Other details about the crash were not revealed in local media reports.

Officials believe that a driving error caused the crash, rather than drugs or alcohol.

 

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