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Video: Calif. crews rescue driver who plunged more than 500 feet off cliff

A Marin County FD captain rappelled to the car that was wedged between a broken tree and the hillside, and a paramedic got there on a 200-foot line

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Screen grab/Sonoma Sheriff

By Summer Lin
Los Angeles Times

MARIN COUNTY, Calif. — A driver was rescued Friday after their car plunged more than 500 feet off a cliff at Mt. Tamalpais in the Bay Area, authorities said.

Multiple agencies responded to the crash at about 7:53 p.m. in the area of Ridgecrest Drive in Marin County, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook. Three U.S. Air Force airmen had witnessed the vehicle go over the cliff and tried to render aid before first responders arrived, according to the sheriff’s office.

A Marin County Fire Department captain rappelled to the car and began life-saving measures on the victim, the sheriff’s office said. The vehicle was located 530 feet down the hill and was wedged between a broken tree and the hillside.

https://www.facebook.com/sonomasheriff/videos/903497927385114/

A paramedic and extrication equipment were deployed to the car using a 200-foot line, the sheriff’s office said. The person sustained major injuries and was removed from the car and loaded onto a stretcher, according to the sheriff’s office. The person was taken via the long line to an ambulance and flown on a helicopter to a trauma center.

Authorities also saved a rescuer via helicopter who got injured trying to get to the car.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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