California man falls 300 ft from cliff, dies along Oregon coast

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A California man died after falling about 300 feet from a cliff along the Southern Oregon coast Sunday, the Curry County Sheriff’s Office said. 

Deputies from the sheriff’s office responded to the incident at the request of the Brookings Police Department. Police told the sheriff’s office that a person had fallen off a cliff at the Natural Bridges viewpoint, about 20 miles south of Gold Beach. 

Deputies and search and rescue crews responded to the scene, along with Oregon State Police, Cal Ore Life Flight Ambulance, and fire crews. 

A Brookings Fire Department EMT who is also a search and rescue member made his way down to the person who had fallen and determined the person was dead. 

Witnesses told deputies and a state trooper at the scene that the victim was 56-year-old Nam Ing of Penngrove, Calif. They said he was hiking with friends when he slipped from the trail and fell onto the rocks on the shoreline below. 

The sheriff’s office search and rescue team used a rope system to lower a rappeler down to the victim. Together first responders lifted the rescuer and Ing back to the top of the cliff. 

Oregon State Police reached out to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office to contact Ing’s family.  

“This is such a tragedy and from all of us here at the Curry County Sheriff’s Office, we send our condolences to the Ing family,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a press release. 

The sheriff’s office reminds people that although the Natural Bridges area is beautiful to visit, it is also very dangerous. Deputies are called to that area often for rescues and recoveries.