1 dead, 3 injured in fall from Palos Verdes Estates cliff

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. - One person is dead and three others injured after falling about 300 feet down a cliff in Palos Verdes Estates.

According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the incident was reported just after 4:30 a.m. in the 1400 block of Paseo Del Mar. Fire department helicopters were deployed to help with the rescue, said LACOFD Dispatch Supervisor Martin Rangel

Two men and two women were injured, authorities said; one of them died at the scene. The fatally injured person was a 25-year-old Los Angeles man, Palos Verdes Estates police Capt. Steve Barber told City News Service. His name was not immediately released, pending notification of his relatives. 

"It's extremely dangerous; there's no fencing in the area," county fire Capt. Wade Kelsey told Fox11. "There's sloping to where it just goes off to a sheer cliff, and the majority of the area here is very unstable, very dangerous if you get close to the edge of this cliff without any sort of protection."

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One of the men who fell climbed back to the top of the steep embankment and called authorities for help, fire officials told reporters.

Local police are investigating the circumstances of the fall. Barber said the preliminary investigation indicates the fall was an apparent accident. Other details were not immediately released.

Officials said a vehicle was not believed to have been involved.

City News Service contributed to this report.