Two people were taken to UPMC Mercy hospital after their Honda SUV went off the road and over a hillside in Cranberry Township on Thursday, Dec. 26. Submitted Photo

Two people were taken to UPMC Mercy hospital after their Honda SUV went off the road and over a hillside in Cranberry Township on Thursday, Dec. 26.

The incident was first reported shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday.

Bruce Hezlep, Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Department assistant fire chief, said the SUV was traveling west on Interstate 76 when it veered off the road.

“I do know that they were traveling west on I-76, and they were getting off to go onto I-79, and they just ended up down in that ditch,” Hezlep said.

The ditch is off the side of a ramp that takes motorists from I-76 northbound onto I-79 eastbound.

Emergency crews rescued two people from an SUV which left the road and went into a deep ditch in Cranberry Township. Submitted photo

“It was a steep hill,” Hezlep said. “I’d say 75 feet down.”

While he doesn’t know how the crash happened, Hezlep said the two people were “awake, alert and responsive” when emergency personnel arrived, but is unsure of their current condition.

Hezlep said that to haul the two people to safety, the emergency crews needed to make use of the “Stokes basket” — a special type of stretcher used in rescue operations that take place in hard-to-reach spots.

“They were way down over the hill, so we had to haul them in a Stokes basket,” Hezlep said.

Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Department and Cranberry Township EMS responded to the scene.