Woman Is Saved From Drowning in Crash

Three good Samaritans pulled a 27-year-old Los Angeles woman from the watery wreckage of a crashed sport utility vehicle and carried her up a 20-foot cliff to safety -- but her fiance was washed out to sea, authorities said Monday.

Zhanna Uvarova and her fiance, a 33-year-old Sun Valley man, were returning from the beach in Ventura County about 8:40 p.m. Sunday when their 1998 Ford Explorer hit a power pole and went off Pacific Coast Highway, just south of Sycamore Canyon, said California Highway Patrol spokesman Steve Reid.

Authorities believe the man was killed instantly. His body was recovered about 5 p.m. Monday near Leo Carrillo Beach in Los Angeles County, about five miles south of the crash site. His identity is being withheld until today.

The couple’s vehicle was lost in the pounding surf, Reid said.

Uvarova, who suffered moderate injuries, was released from St. John’s Regional Medical Center by Monday afternoon.

The couple, both Russian immigrants, had planned to be married May 1, Reid said.

According to witnesses, two motorists who saw the crash climbed down the steep embankment and rescued Uvarova from the overturned vehicle.

A third passerby, Oxnard resident Irving Vidal, then stopped and helped the other men lift her up the cliff and onto the roadway, Reid said.

“There’s no doubt that these passersby saved her life,” he said. “The vehicle was submerged and eventually was swept away by a current.”

As the witnesses were calling 911, Reid said, a Gold Coast Ambulance crew that happened to be passing by saw the commotion and pulled over to help. They treated Uvarova and called for backup, Emergency Medical Technician Richard Gomez said.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call the CHP investigations unit at (805) 477-4160.