Driver saved after 450-foot plunge off remote California road
ASSOCIATED PRESS
This image from video released by the California Highway Patrol on Tuesday shows the scene where a woman was rescued after the car she was driving plunged 450 feet down a cliff and a bicyclist just happened to witness the accident in Napa, Calif. Authorities say the car could have fallen another 800 feet on Tuesday but it hit a tree that stopped it. A California Highway Patrol flight officer tells the San Francisco Chronicle it’s likely no one would have seen the wreck on the forested mountainside in the city of Napa if the bicyclist had not been nearby.
NAPA, Calif. >> Northern California rescuers pulled a woman from a car that plunged 450 feet down a cliff.
The car was prevented from falling another 800 feet when it hit a tree Tuesday in Napa.
A California Highway Patrol flight officer and paramedic tells the Napa Valley Register it was fortunate a bicyclist witnessed the plunge off the remote road because otherwise it’s likely no one would have spotted the wreck on the wooded mountainside.
The cyclist called 911 and climbed down the slope to reach the 20-year-old victim.
A helicopter lowered paramedics through a narrow gap in the tree cover, removed the car’s windshield and hoisted the woman out.
The newspaper reported that Karla Hernandez-Zambrano suffered major unspecified injuries and was in stable condition in a hospital.
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