Teens Rescued as Car Plunges Over Side of Canyon

Paramedics rescued two teens after their car plunged almost 200 feet down a steep canyon near Calabasas Monday, authorities said.

Initial reports said the driver swerved to avoid hitting an animal before careening off the side of a cliff, although the official cause of the accident remains unclear. The AP quotes Officer Leland Tang, a spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol, as saying, “The only thing we can suggest and theorize is that it would be unsafe speed and turning movement.”

Emergency workers airlifted the victims to a local hospital after rescuing the pair from the scene of the crash on Stunt Road near Mulholland Highway, according to Los Angeles County fire inspector Matt Levesque.

Driver Jake Lee Alger, 18, of Palmdale, and passenger David Djouzaie, 19, of Encino, were conscious when rescued and airlifted to UCLA Medical Center from the scene of the accident. The car’s airbags deployed and both men were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.