PICKUP PLUNGE DRAMA
Dangling duo rescued
An out-of-control pickup truck flew off a bridge and was left dangling vertically over a 100-foot gorge in Idaho before rescuers rappelled down to save two people and two dogs trapped inside.
The 67-year-old male driver, 64year-old female passenger and their pooches were traveling in the 2004 Ford F-350 on Monday afternoon when the man lost control and swerved off the bridge over Malad Gorge, police said.
The pickup went completely over the edge — and was prevented from plummeting 100 feet only by a chain connecting it to a 30-foot camper that stayed on the edge of the bridge, police said.
The human and canine occupants dangled with their “lives literally hanging in the balance,” Capt. David Neth said — with the man and woman’s seat belts helping to stop them from falling out of the vehicle.
The trooper who first responded initially reinforced the hold on the pickup with extra chains from a passing semi-truck driver, police said.
The Magic Valley Special Operations Rescue Team raced to the scene by helicopter — with video showing one member rappelling over the edge of the bridge and reaching the Ford’s passenger-side window.
As onlookers crowded onto the edge of the gorge, another rappeller joined the effort.
The crew was “able to rappel down to the dangling pickup truck and attach a harness to each victim, allowing rescuers to raise each to safety,” a police statement said.
The rescuers were also able to get the two dogs to safety.
In all, it took responders just six minutes to get to the trapped group in what police hailed as a “heroic rescue.”
The driver and his passenger were taken to a hospital “with what appeared to be non-lifethreatening injuries,” the statement said.
They were not identified, but police said they were both from Garden City near Boise, about 100 miles from the crash site.
“This was a tremendous team effort that took a quick response and really showed the dedication and training of our community of first responders,” Neth said.
“This is something we train and prepare for, but when it happens and people’s lives literally hang in the balance, it takes everyone working together, and then some.”