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Truck Driver Plunges 35 Feet Off Causeway, Survives With Minor Injuries

WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A delivery driver's close call on the Causeway sent him plunging off the highway, smashing his burning truck and surviving with minor injuries.

The truck driver's family is in a state of shock and relief. They spent the day in a hospital room and are counting their blessings.

CBS13 video captured the mangled, smoky truck. The front of the cab was crushed – the driver, Mahendra Kumar, inside after dropping 35 feet from a freeway overpass to the ground below.

But looking closely, Kumar's hands were moving. He is alive and conscious.

"In my 13 years you see a lot," a firefighter at the scene said. "We thought this was a fatality."

Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to break open the door, carefully pulling Kumar out and hoisting him to safety.

From outside his hospital Sunday evening, Kumar's wife says she couldn't believe her eyes. She saw her husband in a hospital bed, talking, moving and smiling – incredibly suffering only minor burns and a couple fractured bones.

"What did he say to you when you saw him at the hospital?" we asked her.

"He said, 'Don't worry, don't worry,'" she said.

She can't help but worry. She says Kumar makes overnight deliveries for work, risking the road to make a living.

"That's what he was doing, just a normal routine," said son-in-law Deepak Prasad.

California Highway Patrol says Kumar was driving eastbound on Interstate 80 and couldn't avoid crashing into a car involved in another accident.

Kumar's truck caught on fire, went over the edge and landed on its wheels.

His family asked to see the dramatic rescue on video. It was hard to watch and even harder to process for Kumar's wife.

Kumar is recovering at the UC Davis Medical Center. He is out of surgery and grateful. Firefighters say it's a miracle he's alive.

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