Woman in serious condition after car goes off cliff
theweathernetwork.com
Sunday, April 3, 2016, 3:37 PM - A woman has been hospitalized with unspecified injuries after a car went off the cliff's edge at Signal Hill's Cabot Tower in St. John's, Nfld.
The 20-year-old woman was found near the scene of the crash, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) confirmed Sunday afternoon. The incident is under investigation.
20yo female was found 20 meters from Toyota Echo @RNC_PoliceNL confirm. She's in hospital in serious condition pic.twitter.com/zLTXkiZTuk
— Katie Breen (@KatieBreenNL) April 3, 2016
The St. John's Regional Fire Department (SJRFD) told CBC's Katie Breen the woman was in the car when it went over the cliff, and was quickly retrieved by emergency responders in serious condition a little after 8 a.m. Sunday.
ACTIVE WEATHER IN NEWFOUNDLAND: Province to get lashed with winds exceeding 100 km/h in some areas. Details here.
The RNC told the CBC strong winds would make the recovery of the car difficult.
Car was precariously perched. SJRF says @ParksCanadaNL thought it would slip, decided they needed to work quickly pic.twitter.com/BccQj1SqPa
— Katie Breen (@KatieBreenNL) April 3, 2016
The RNC responded to a third-party tip that referenced "suspicious activity" near Cabot Tower at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday. They arrived half an hour later to find the car had gone over the cliff.
Police closed the nearby trail to pedestrians, though several spectators lined a nearby road to watch as a tow truck arrived to help extricate the vehicle.
Breen tweeted images from the scene showing several people working on recovering the visibly damaged car. A cable was attached to the vehicle's trunk area, and it was hoisted away up the cliff a little before 2 p.m. local time.
Driver broke through this gate, SJRF confirms. She left vehicle after it came to a stop on cliff. #cbcnl pic.twitter.com/cBPw9yird5
— Katie Breen (@KatieBreenNL) April 3, 2016
SJRFD platoon chief Rick Mackey told The Telegram's Josh Pennell that the woman was driving over a section of the road that is barred from vehicles.
“I can’t even speculate why there was a car that drove by the side of the hill tower side at Cabot Tower,” Mackey said noting there's a gate in place to keep the lane closed off.
Driver broke through this gate, SJRF confirms. She left vehicle after it came to a stop on cliff. #cbcnl pic.twitter.com/cBPw9yird5
— Katie Breen (@KatieBreenNL) April 3, 2016
Almost on the back of the tow truck. It's dangling in a different way now #cbcnl pic.twitter.com/1x3I4D8jQ9
— Katie Breen (@KatieBreenNL) April 3, 2016
Here's what the car from today's accident looked like coming down Signal Hill on a flatbed #cbcnl pic.twitter.com/cq6ziXn8x6
— Katie Breen (@KatieBreenNL) April 3, 2016
Though the RNC has said the strong winds in the area would make recovering the vehicle difficult, it is not clear if they were a significant factor in contributing to the initial crash.
Winds in the area exhibited maximum gusts in the 80-90 km/h range over the duration of the operation. However, that pales in comparison to winds expected overnight into Monday morning. Forecasters say gusts could reach the 100-130 km/h range over much of Newfoundland.
SOURCE: CBC | The Telegram
