Crime & Safety

Tesla Plunges 300 Feet Off Mulholland Highway, 2 Rescued

A helicopter rescue was launched after the vehicle went over the side of the roadway Friday morning.

MALIBU, CA — Two people were injured Friday morning when a Tesla plunged about 300 feet down a hillside off Mulholland Highway in the mountains above Malibu, prompting a major rescue operation involving firefighters, search-and-rescue crews and a helicopter.

The crash was reported around 7:05 a.m. in the 2500 block of Mulholland Highway, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Fire crews located the vehicle roughly 300 feet below the roadway in steep terrain about 7:33 a.m., officials said. Video from the scene showed a white Tesla resting among trees and brush on the hillside, NBC Los Angeles reported.

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Malibu Search and Rescue teams, along with the California Highway Patrol, responded to assist with the operation. CHP officers conducted traffic control between Bardman Avenue and an area just north of Pacific Coast Highway during the rescue effort.

A medic was lowered to the wreckage by helicopter. One occupant was later hoisted to the roadway, while a second person remained trapped in the vehicle and was treated at the scene, according to fire officials and NBC Los Angeles.

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At least one of the injured occupants was able to communicate with rescuers during the operation. Both patients were expected to be transported to a trauma center, authorities said.

Details about the victims' conditions and the cause of the crash were not immediately available.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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