Three people were saved from fatal injury when the 1999 Jeep Wrangler they were driving in plunged off a cliff in part because they were wearing seat belts.
A Knoxville Police Department spokesman also says the roll bar on the Jeep prevented them from dying.
The driver has been identified as Angela Massey, 46, of Knoxville. Husband and wife, Stephen and Connie Pickford, 47 and 46, both of Knoxville were passengers in the Jeep.
Previous story
A spokesperson with the Knoxville Fire Department said three people are conscious and alert after their vehicle fell off a 45-foot cliff Tuesday night.
According to DJ Corcoran, of KFD, one man and two women were off-roading in a Jeep Wrangler on a trail behind Knoxville Center Mall.
Corcoran said the trio had driven half-a-mile away from the dead-end portion of Old Loves Creek Road just before their vehicle plunged nose first off the cliff and flipped over.
He said KFD received a call about the incident around 10:45 p.m.
"The injured tried their best to relay to 911 their whereabouts via a cell phone," Corcoran said. "Rescuers were able to follow fresh tire tracks through the maze of trails to finally locate the wreckage."
The three people were all transported via Rural/Metro ambulances to UT Medical Center for treatment three hours later, around 1 a.m.
Corcoran told 10News the rescue effort took a lot of work, especially since one of the people in need of assistance was 6-foot-7-inches tall.
"They were using ropes and pulleys to get him out of there," he said. "They had a stokes basket that they had put him in and then they utilized somebody walking along side."
Corcoran could not comment on any of the victims' injuries.