Four passengers survive after Tesla plunges 250 feet off a cliff
Topics: US News, Technology, Tesla
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office
Topics: US News, Technology, Tesla
Four people have survived a devastating crash after their Tesla plunged 250 feet off a cliffside along California’s Pacific Coast Highway.
The accident, which happened earlier this week (2 January), saw the car crash on to a rocky area of beach, with authorities admitting they were 'shocked' to discover that the passengers - two adults and two children - had survived the fall.
The area of cliff, called Devil's Slide - which is located 15 miles south of San Francisco - is sadly notorious for its crashes.
“Accidents on that cliff are not rare. We do respond to a lot of vehicles on that cliff,” Brian Pottenger, battalion chief with California Fire’s Coastside Fire Protection District told CNN.
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"What’s rare is that we do not get a lot of survivors – surviving this type of accident is very rare.”
Pottenger went on to explain that the children, a nine-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl, were both secured in car seats which remained intact. All passengers were conscious when they were taken to hospital.
“The damage to the vehicle would indicate that it hit, and then flipped several times,” he added.
As the rescue mission took place, Pottenger explained they noticed 'movement' which indicated that at least one person had survived.
“As we were doing that, we were able to notice movement in the front seat through the windshield,” he explained.
“So we knew that we had at least one person that was alive.”
The children were rescued first using a rope to lift them out of the vehicle and up the cliff, meanwhile a helicopter later lifted the adults to safety.
It is not clear whether the four were from the same family, and their identities have not been released.
On Monday, the San Mateo Sheriff’s Office tweeted explaining that the adults had suffered 'non-life threatening injuries' and that the children are 'unharmed'.
"This afternoon, deputies responded to a solo vehicle over the side of Hwy 1 south of the Tom Lantos tunnel. Two adults suffered non-life threatening injuries and two children were unharmed. Tremendous collaborative effort btwn SMSO, @CHP_GoldenGate and @calfireSCU," they wrote.
The passengers have now been transferred to Stanford Medical Center where they are recovering and receiving treatment.
“This was a traumatic accident, and they survived,” he said. “And it was a good outcome to a very bad situation."