On August 13 at 12:50 a.m. the Santa Cruz Fire Department received a call that a car had driven through barriers at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, California, and plummeted into the ocean.
Rescue crews discovered two victims at the scene. One had self-extricated with minor injuries, while the other was stuck inside the overturned vehicle in the ocean. According to the Santa Cruz Fire Department, lifeguards and rescue swimmers pulled the second victim from the vehicle. They provided life-saving measures on the way to the hospital, but the individual was later pronounced deceased.
The Santa Cruz Police Department used a drone to search for further victims, but they determined that only two people were in the vehicle when it crashed. The fire department says the cause of the crash is under investigation.
Steamer Lane, one of the most frequented surf spots in Santa Cruz, features cliffs that rise roughly 20 to 30 feet from the ocean. The cliffs are lined with metal barricades. The road, West Cliff Drive, parallels the cliffs at the north end of the break, with only a sidewalk separating it from the barricades. It’s unclear if the vehicle was traveling eastbound or westbound.
Steamer Lane has been in the news lately due to massive collapses of cliff rock that have fallen into the lineup.
