A woman died early Thursday morning after the car in which she was a passenger plunged off West Cliff Drive and landed upside down in the sea.
According to Santa Cruz Police, the car, with a male driver and the victim as a passenger, shot off the pavement at 12:50am just east of the Abbott Memorial Lighthouse at Steamers Lane.
Witnesses told emergency dispatchers that the car was fully submerged.
Eventually a man emerged from the wreckage amid crashing waves, while the woman remained trapped in the car.
Four rescue swimmers from Santa Cruz Fire entered the ocean and removed the second victim from the submerged vehicle. The man was taken to a local hospital.
The woman pulled from the vehicle was taken to a trauma center, where she was later pronounced dead. The male driver who self-extracted suffered minor injuries.
The incident is still under investigation. Santa Cruz Police did not release the victim’s name.
Police officers from UC Santa Cruz were called to the scene of the crash because the victim was a student, university spokesman Scott Hernandez-Jason said.
“We were heartbroken to learn that the victim was a UC Santa Cruz student,” he stated in an email. “Our deepest condolences go out to the student’s family and friends during this difficult time. We are providing support resources to those affected by this tragedy.”
