NATIONAL CITY, Calif. – Authorities are searching for the driver of a Fiat that drove off State Route 54 in National City, tumbled down an embankment and burst into flames early Tuesday morning.
The crash occurred at around 1:45 a.m. on westbound SR-54, east of Highland Avenue. According to California Highway Patrol, a Fiat 500 fell about 200 feet down an embankment and ignited.
Several people saw the smoke from the freeway and stopped to help. The Good Samaritans ran down the hill to the burning car. They broke its windows to see if anyone was inside. National City Fire Department crews responded and had to cut through a fence to reach the car and extinguished the blaze, but found no one inside.
With the help of a San Diego police ABLE helicopter, CHP officers scoured the area, but found no sign of a driver.
CHP found a charred license plate on the car, and hope to use it to find the registered owner. Currently, they are investigating this as a possible hit-and-run.
