Sightseers watch in horror as SUV plunges off ocean cliff, California rescuers say

Visitors at a California parking lot overlooking the Pacific Ocean looked on in horror Saturday as an SUV crashed through a barricade and over a 70-foot cliff, Bodega Bay firefighters said.

The gold Toyota SUV landed on its roof in the tidal pools at Bodega Head, a popular sightseeing destination, The Press Democrat reported.

Two people inside the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene, Bodega Bay Fire Protection District officials wrote on Facebook.

On Monday, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department identified the two women as Elizabeth Correia, 41, a first-grade teacher, and her mother, Maria Teixeira, 64, both of Dublin, KPIX reported..

Dozens of people at the overlook witnessed the fatal crash at 11:30 a.m., according to the station. They told authorities the Toyota Rav4 crossed the parking lot at a normal speed but then kept going over a log barrier on the cliff top without slowing or stopping.

California Highway Patrol officers are investigating the crash.

“There’s just so many things that we have unanswered about it,” Officer David de Rutte told The Press Democrat.

This story was originally published April 4, 2021 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Sightseers watch in horror as SUV plunges off ocean cliff, California rescuers say."