Foreign couple survive 150m-cliff fall Down Under

MELBOURNE - A German tourist and his Japanese wife have both miraculously survived after their car went over a cliff and plunged 150 metres down a ravine in Victoria’s west.

Steffen Henrich, 34, and his wife Melanie Baik, 30, were driving on Mount Victory Road at Zumsteins in the Grampians when she lost control on a bend.he car somersaulted “nose to tail” down a slope of about 150 metres before coming to rest near the base of the cliff.

According to Radio 3AW, Henrich said he was really afraid when he saw his wife bleeding from a head wound.

“On one of the curves the rear tyre broke out, so rear tyres lost grip and basically we fell off the edge,” the Age quoted Henrich as saying.I was really afraid because when the car suddenly stopped, I saw her bleeding heavily. I thought (her injuries) would be much more severe - broken legs or arms, or worse.

“I was fine. I told her she should stay in the car. I went up to the street and tried to call the ambulance but unfortunately there was no service in that area, so I had to run back.

“Fortunately one lady stopped and drove me back to the next landline,” he said.elicopter paramedic Anthony De Wit said Henrich managed to climb out of the car’s side window and scale the rocky slope to the road where he was able to call help.

“He was extremely lucky that he could get out of the vehicle and make the climb up, and also was able to call the emergency services. Not only that, he got out of the accident unscathed,” De Wit added.

Police said a helicopter was called to lift the woman from the bottom of the ravine but could not be used because of fading light.

Paramedics treated Baik for pain and nausea, and she was carefully removed from the vehicle using equipment to protect her spine.

Baik was loaded into a waiting ambulance then taken to the Wimmera Base Hospital where she was treated for minor head injuries, cuts and grazes. Her husband was treated for minor injuries.

SES regional duty officer Mark Cattell said the pair were “extremely lucky” to survive. He said the car pulled up at the bottom of the embankment only metres away from a much steeper cliff.

He said that if the couple were both trapped in the car overnight in freezing conditions their situation “would have been a whole lot worse”. (ANI)