• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Four miraculously survive after Tesla plunges 250-feet off ‘Devil's Slide’ cliff

Home> News

Published 20:29 3 Jan 2023 GMT

Four miraculously survive after Tesla plunges 250-feet off ‘Devil's Slide’ cliff

A fire chief said it was an 'absolute miracle' they survived

Jake Massey

Jake Massey

Four people have miraculously survived after a Tesla plunged 250 feet off Devil's Slide cliff in California, USA.

Authorities arrived at the scene assuming they'd be retrieving bodies, until they noticed movement inside the vehicle.

Watch the incredible rescue effort here:

A number of agencies were deployed to the scene yesterday morning (Monday 2 January) after it was reported that there was a car over the cliff, which is located 15 miles south of San Francisco and is notorious for its fatal crashes.

The Tesla sedan plummeted more than 250 feet from the highway and crashed into a rocky outcropping.

Advert

It appeared to have flipped numerous times before landing on its wheels just feet from the ocean.

"We go there all the time for cars over the cliff and they never live. This was an absolute miracle," Brian Pottenger, a battalion chief for Coastside Fire Protection District/Cal Fire told ABC 7 News.

"Every one of us was shocked when we saw movement out of the front windshield."

Authorities had not expected survivors.
ABC 7

A complex and lengthy rescue operation was then set in motion, after it was established that there were two adults and two children alive inside the vehicle.

Advert

More than 30 rescuers and three helicopters were involved in the operation, and because the car was jammed against the cliff, firefighters had to cut them from the car.

The children - a four-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy - were then hoisted up the cliff on ropes in rescue baskets, before being rushed to hospital in an ambulance with musculoskeletal injuries.

"They were more scared than they were hurt," Pottenger said.

The adults had sustained traumatic injuries and were flown by helicopter to the hospital.

It was not immediately clear whether the four people in the car were all related.

Advert

Pottenger added: "We did have one witness state the vehicle did veer off the road to the right-hand side, went up into the dirt area, and then proceeded to go off the cliff.

"We made the decision to hoist the children immediately instead of waiting for the ETA on the helicopters to arrive."

He continued: "We were actually very shocked when we found survivable victims in the vehicle. So that actually was a hopeful moment for us.

Speaking about the dangerous road, he stated: "I don't even like driving it. It's definitely a treacherous stretch of California."

Featured Image Credit: Bayareafirefighter/sanmateosantacruzunit/Facebook

Topics: US News, Cars, Tesla

Jake Massey
Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

X

@jakesmassey

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Man horrified to discover his new home is actually someone else's Airbnb

    Ben Echianu, from Manchester, branded the woman whom he believes posed as a landlord as 'heartless'

    News
  • an hour ago

    Christian Horner releases statement after being sacked by Red Bull after 20 years

    Horner shared a lengthy statement on social media

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Donald Trump shuts down reporter who asked Jeffrey Epstein question following release of CCTV footage

    It seems the US President deems the topic to be no longer up for discussion

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Cardiologist who had heart attack warns people to not 'make same mistake' over little-known warning sign

    The irony isn't lost on Dr William Wilson

    News
  • Haunting words from hallucinating son, 14, before walking off 120-foot cliff in front of his terrified father
  • Woman who survived car crash had haunting final exchange moments before incident killed boyfriend and dog
  • Influencer shares aftermath of £150k McLaren crash after he was on phone then filmed bloody passenger
  • Woman's date ends in horror after she pets stranger's dog and gets lips ripped off