Driver dies after her car flies off highway cliff into surf, California rescuers say

An early morning crash Monday sent a car flying off the Pacific Coast Highway onto a Southern California beach, rescuers say.

Ventura County firefighters and California Highway Patrol officers found a car upside-down in the surf off Thornhill Broome Beach at 1:40 a.m., KCBS reported.

Strong waves initially prevented firefighters from reaching the driver, a woman trapped in the wreckage, the Los Angeles Times reported. The car had to be pulled onto the beach.

Rescuers pronounced the woman dead at the scene, The Mercury News reported.

A search for a possible missing passenger was called off when rescuers learned the woman had been alone in the car, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A witness told investigators the car “flew into the ocean,” The Mercury News reported. A rocky slope or small cliff separates the highway from the beach.

The identity of the woman killed in the crash has not been released.