Four people fell off a cliff in Southern California before dawn on Monday, killing one man and seriously injuring two women, authorities said.
The fourth man, a man with minor injuries, managed to climb back down from the beach and warn a passing police officer around 4:30 a.m., said Captain Steve Barber of the Palos Verdes Police Department.
A 25-year-old man from Los Angeles died on the spot, Barber said. Two women were taken from the beach and each was hospitalized in critical condition, he said.
Television news helicopters showed a helicopter from the Los Angeles County Fire Department lifting one of the victims to an ambulance at the top of the cliff.
Police are investigating the incident as an accident, Barber said.
The surviving man, 25-year-old Vincent Avila of Los Angeles, has been hospitalized with broken ribs and mild kidney damage, KNBC-TV reported.
The first woman fell when she tried to go to the bathroom in the dark. AP
“It’s a miracle,” his mother Irma told the news station.
Her son said the four friends went to the rocks on Sunday night to walk and hang out. She said that when one of the women went to relieve herself in the dark, she slipped and fell. The other three sat on the edge, trying to find her in the dark, and they slipped, too.
Palos Verdes Estates is located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula at the southern tip of Los Angeles County. A trail runs along the top of the bluff about 300 feet (91 meters) above the Pacific Ocean.
There have been several incidents in the area over the years, Barber said, and several suicides.
“At the moment, there are no indications that this is anything but an accident,” he said.
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