Police speak to young men they rescued after they drove off a cliff on Musick Pt near Bucklands Beach while doing burnouts. Credit Supplied.
Ferry passengers on the Auckland Harbour watched the terrifying moment a car plunged off a steep cliff into the sea near Bucklands Beach on Sunday evening.
The driver of the car was allegedly doing burnouts in a carpark and lost control atop Musick Point, East Auckland, when the car then toppled over the edge.
Miraculously, the two occupants escaped with only minor injuries. Police are speaking to two people regarding the incident, but have yet to lay charges.
“Our inquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances leading up to the crash,” a police spokesperson said. Police responded to the incident after a report about 5.30pm Sunday.
The Auckland Police Maritime Unit responded after a car plunged off a cliff at Auckland's Musick Pt, near Bucklands Beach, on Sunday evening. Photo / Ness Fletcher
A witness on the Waiheke Link Ferry said he saw the car fall off the cliff from the middle of the harbour.
“We could see two people on the beach shortly afterwards presumably both occupants of the vehicle,” he told the Herald.
Another passenger on the ferry said the car “came straight down and then rolled a couple of times at the bottom”.
The car could be seen on its side, partially submerged in water. The Auckland Police Maritime Unit took the men to Bucklands Beach by boat, where they were assessed for injuries.
A car plunged off a cliff at Auckland's Musick Pt, near Bucklands Beach, after occupants were allegedly doing burnouts in a war memorial carpark on Sunday evening. Photo / Ness Fletcher
St John took one person to Middlemore Hospital after sending an ambulance and rapid response vehicle. Fire and Emergency NZ sent two fire trucks but left by 6.12pm.
Members of the East Auckland community page on Facebook said a convoy of emergency services raced along Bucklands Beach Rd.
A local resident told 1News: “the guys got out of the car and then the police boat picked them up and then dropped them off at Bucklands Beach to the waiting cops”.
“All the ambulances were up on the cliff and didn’t come down. One guy was holding his arm and had a bit of blood on the back of his head, the other guy was totally unscathed.”
Emergency services rushed to Musick Pt, East Auckland, on Sunday evening after a car fell off a cliff and into the sea, but miraculously, the occupants survived with only minor injuries. Photo / Ness Fletcher
Another local said she went to the scene to find out what had happened: “We parked down at the Musick Point end of Bucklands Beach and saw a group of police talking to a young family.
“[A] lady had come over and told me what had happened - that a car was doing burnouts up the top of the cliff and lost control and went over.”
She said she asked police “if [the occupants] were dead”.
“The police boat pulled in right in front of me. They put the ladder out and these two guys sheepishly walked off the boat.
“I said, hello boys ... bloody wasting police time. I just thought, ‘you idiots’.”
One person appeared to have a broken arm, she said. “It was dangling - it looked dislocated and he had cuts to the back of his head.”
“The other guy had a cut on his head as well. What panicked me the most is that families picnic at the beach where that car landed, under the cliff. Imagine if they had been hit.
