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California

1 dead after car crashes, tumbling into Malibu Canyon

As seen from above, a car is smashed in a brushy area at the bottom of a cliff. A firefighter in yellow stands alongside.
A firefighter inspects a vehicle that went over the side of a canyon in Malibu on Wednesday.
(KTLA-TV)
By Matt HamiltonStaff Writer 
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One person was killed Wednesday after a car careened off the road in the Malibu hills, authorities said.

The deadly crash occurred about 5:30 p.m. on Malibu Canyon Road near Adamson Flat, less than two miles north of Pacific Coast Highway, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The crash shut down traffic in both directions of Malibu Canyon Road, a two-lane stretch that cuts through the Santa Monica Mountains, uniting Calabasas with Malibu and Pacific Coast Highway.

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The road curves along the hills and can be treacherous, with steep drop-offs into the canyon below. The passage has been the site of multiple fatal crashes over the years.

Aerial footage Wednesday night from KTLA-TV showed a gray-silver vehicle had tumbled more than 100 feet off the cliffside into the brush and rocky ravine below. Firefighters were traversing the canyon to reach the vehicle.

It’s unclear what led to the crash, which is under investigation by the CHP. The L.A. County Medical Examiner-Coroner responded to the scene; the identity of the person who died was not released.
MALIBU, CA - OCTOBER 18, 2023 - Youth leave flowers at the scene where four women were killed in a multi-vehicle crash along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu on October 18, 2023. A 22-year-old man was arrested after plowing into the pedestrians and parked cars. The crash was reported at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 21600 block of Pacific Coast Highway where they found the victims of the crash, along with the severely damaged vehicles. The crash began when the suspect lost control of his BMW and slammed into multiple parked cars before ricocheting and fatally striking the women, who were standing on the side of the road. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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A large response by firefighters and police for a vehicle that went over the side of a canyon in Malibu
A large response by firefighters and police for a vehicle that went over the side of a canyon in Malibu on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
(KTLA)

In October, 25-year-old Luis Gonzalez died on Malibu Canyon Road when his car rolled over and tumbled over an embankment about a mile north of Pacific Coast Highway.

In 2022, two vehicles collided along the road, killing 18-year-old Skylar Scripter and injuring several others.

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Wednesday’s fatal crash comes months after four Pepperdine University students were killed when they were struck by a car as they stood alongside Pacific Coast Highway. Then-22-year-old motorist Fraser Bohm was charged with murder and manslaughter. The incident revived safety concerns about speeding motorists in and around the scenic coastal enclave.

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Matt Hamilton

Matt Hamilton is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting with colleagues Harriet Ryan and Paul Pringle and was part of the team of reporters that won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the San Bernardino terrorist attack. A graduate of Boston College and the University of Southern California, he joined The Times in 2013.

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