Driver pulled from the ocean after his SUV plunges off Los Angeles cliff, rescuers say

A 33-year-old man survived a double plunge into the ocean from a San Pedro, California, cliff early Monday, KTTV reported.

Firefighters on a rescue boat found the man swimming in the Pacific Ocean following the 3 a.m. crash, the L.A. Fire Department wrote in a release. He has been hospitalized in “fair condition.”

The man hit a curb, crashed through a fence and plunged over a cliff on Pacific Avenue in San Pedro, which is part of Los Angeles, firefighters wrote.

His SUV fell down the cliff, landing front-first on an outcrop with the roof against the cliff face, KABC reported.

The driver got out and tried to climb the cliff back to the road, but wound up falling another 30 to 40 feet to a rocky shoreline below, KTTV reported.

That’s when he began swimming.

After firefighters pulled him from the ocean, they took him to a waiting ambulance at a nearby dock, the fire department reported.

He suffered cuts and bruises, KTTV reported.

Firefighters searched the SUV and cliff to be sure there were no other occupants, the department reported. The agency did not say whether drugs or alcohol are believed to be involved in the accident.

This story was originally published August 12, 2019 at 7:21 AM with the headline "Driver pulled from the ocean after his SUV plunges off Los Angeles cliff, rescuers say."