m to safety.

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CANYON LAKE (CNS) – A motorist was critically injured Wednesday after his vehicle plunged down a hillside south of Canyon Lake, requiring a helicopter to hoist him to safety.

The crash happened at about 12:35 p.m. near the intersection of Lost Road and Lake View Drive, in the Sedco Hills area, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

The agency said multiple engine crews were sent to the location and found the man trapped in his vehicle, down a 200-foot embankment.

Firefighters requested assistance from a sheriff’s STAR-9 helicopter crew to perform a hoist rescue after they extricated the victim, whose identity was not released, from the wreckage.

The rescue operation was completed shortly before 2 p.m., and the motorist was taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar for treatment of life-threatening injuries, according to officials at the scene.

Sheriff’s deputies were investigating the crash.

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Driver Critically Injured After Plunging Down Hill South of Canyon Lake