One dead after car plunges 330ft from Ventura County cliff

A family member was said to be the first to find a car that had plunged 100 meters off the road on Sunday evening, after receiving a phone call from one of the victims.

After their car fell off a cliff in Ventura County, one of the vehicle’s two occupants reportedly called family members to tell them about the accident. At least one relative found the car before rescuers arrived on the scene on Christmas Eve.

At that time, the driver was in critical condition. The passenger was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash was reported to the California Highway Patrol just after 6:30 p.m., according to the agency’s incident log, which describes the occupants as “brother and uncle.” Their vehicle overran the side of the Santa Susana Pass road east of the Simi Valley on Sunday, according to authorities and published reports.

A CHP spokesperson told KTLA that a family member called about the crash, which reportedly happened just east of Box Canyon Road in hilly terrain near the eastern Ventura county line. .

The cause of the accident was not immediately clear. The CHP log noted that the person trying to communicate had a tongue injury, so it had been difficult to get information.

Firefighters first described the treatment of two seriously injured people. Around 7:10 p.m., crews said one of the patients had died, according to the Ventura County Star.

The road was closed while emergency crews worked. Helicopters from Ventura County and Los Angeles agencies responded to assist in the rescue.

“From what I understand, one of the parties called the family and the family eventually located the vehicle,” CHP’s Timothy Wren told KTLA.