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Driver crashed in ravine, was ‘immobilized.’ Five days later, rescuers arrived

About a dozen firefighters stand on a road next to a firetruck in a dry, brushy area
Firefighters work Saturday to help a motorist who plunged into a ravine off Comanche Point Road in Kern County.
(Kern County Fire Department)
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A motorist who spent nearly five days trapped in a pickup truck after it went over a 100-foot bluff in Kern County was rescued on Saturday, authorities said.

The person was airlifted to a nearby hospital; their condition wasn’t immediately known. Details, including the individual’s name and age, have not been released.

The Kern County Fire Department said rescue crews were dispatched after the department received a report just before 11 a.m. Saturday of a badly damaged pickup in a ravine at the base of a steep hill near Stallion Springs, southeast of Bakersfield.

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An incident report said a firefighter was lowered down by rope into the ravine to check on the wreck. The motorist was found inside the truck, “immobilized,” and had been trapped there since crashing on Tuesday.

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Sept. 3, 2023

The truck was found in a ravine off Comanche Point Road, according to the report.

One by one, three more firefighters were lowered down to the crash site, and the individual was placed into a rescue basket.

The California Highway Patrol and the Stallion Springs Police Department assisted in the rescue.

Authorities haven’t released any details about the circumstances of the crash, which remained under investigation Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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