Four youths injured after SUV slides over cliff near Mandan

BISMARCK — Four juveniles were injured when an SUV left the road and slid over a cliff about 8:22 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1, about a mile north of Mandan, according to a North Dakota Highway Patrol report.

According to the report:

The incident happened at the intersection of Highway 1806 and 38th Street, also known as the Old Heskett Power Plant Road.

The SUV was traveling eastbound on 38th Street at a high rate of speed when the driver, a 14-year-old female from Mandan, lost control of the vehicle and it slid through a barbed wire fence sideways and off a cliff towards the Missouri River.

The vehicle dropped approximately 50 feet while overturning on the way down. It came to rest upright on the shoreline next to the river, according to the Highway Patrol report.

The driver was injured in the incident, as was a 15-year-old female passenger and two 16-year-old male passengers, all of whom are from Mandan.

The two females were taken to the hospital by ambulance and one of the males was released to a parent at the scene.

The other male had to be extricated from the vehicle and carried up a stairway before he could be transported to the hospital, according to the Highway Patrol report.

None of the individuals were wearing seat belts.

The vehicle was removed from the shoreline by a crane and the incident remains under investigation, the Highway Patrol said.