Emergency crews responded to Palos Verdes Estates after four people fell several hundred feet over a cliff Monday morning.
The incident was reported around 4:45 a.m. near the intersection of Paseo Del Mar and Avon Road, Los Angeles County Fire Department Captain Kelsey said.
Video showed multiple Fire Department vehicles and a helicopter responding to the incident.
The four victims, described as two men and two women, were all believed to be in their 20s, Kelsey said.
Kelsey described the area, which slopes to a steep cliff, as “extremely dangerous” and said the victims fell approximately 300 to 400 feet.
“It’s very slippery … This is a very loose soil all over Palos Verdes. So, it’s very possible that the ground gave way,” Kelsey said.
One of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene, Kelsey said. The identity and gender of the victim has not been released.
Two victims were hoisted back to the top of the cliff, where one was airlifted to a trauma center and the other was taken by ambulance.
Both were said to be in critical condition.
The fourth person “was able to extricate himself out,” Kelsey said.
It was unclear how the four people ended up falling over the cliff but there did not appear to be any fences in the area.
An SUV left on the street was located nearby but investigators could not confirm whether the vehicle belonged to the victims.
Rakesh Sharma, who lives nearby, said there are rescues in the area all of the time, but not like this.
“You have a rescue all the time. People go down the trails and they can’t come back up because they twist their ankle or something .. But people falling off the cliff, that’s very rare,” Sharma said.
Some residents told KTLA they have asked for warning signs and fencing to be put up in the area, but nothing was ever installed.
“Someone lost their life today. Someone young … their future. It’s very sad this has to happen in this beautiful community,” Chris Reese said.