UPDATE: Driver dies after car plunges from 2nd floor of parkade at UBC

(UPDATE: Jan. 18 @ 7:05 am): The man whose vehicle crashed through a barrier on the second floor of a UBC parkade has died, police said this morning.

Police said that when they arrived at the Thunderbird Parkade on Wednesday, the car had fallen from the second floor to the first.

A concrete barrier was "hanging precariously above the now-vertical black sedan," they explained.

"The vehicle appeared to contain a single occupant who had apparently suffered significant injuries," UBC's RCMP detachment said.

"Efforts to extract the subject from the vehicle could not be immediately made due to the imminent danger created by the damaged structure. Vancouver Fire Rescue Services was able to secure the vehicle and safely extricate the sole occupant."

Police said it is "too early" to determine what caused the crash.

"Tragically, the man suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene," said S/Sgt. Kris Clark.

"Fortunately, no one else was injured and the scene was made safe for first responders by fire and rescue personnel."

(Original story: Jan. 17 @ 1:25 pm): A driver was extracted from the wreckage of their car in a complex rescue operation after the vehicle plunged through the concrete wall of a multi-storey parking lot at the University of British Columbia.

Capt. Matthew Trudeau with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services said 10 emergency vehicles responded to a call to the campus around 9:30 am Wednesday.

Trudeau said a large piece of "concrete beam" was on top of the vehicle, complicating the rescue that took place amid heavily falling snow.

The driver was seen being pulled from the wreckage around noon, before being taken away in an ambulance.

Trudeau said the driver was injured but he couldn't comment further on their condition.

Jasprit Khandal, an information officer with BC Emergency Health Services, said attending paramedics did not take anyone to the hospital. Asked about the apparent discrepancy, BCEHS referred questions to the police.

RCMP said they didn't have more information about the driver.

Heavy rescue and technical rescue teams were involved in the operation to free the driver, whose vehicle fell from the second storey of the building on Thunderbird Boulevard.

Trudeau said there were "numerous safety concerns" around the complex rescue.

“We’re obviously trying to stabilize that vehicle, that way we started pulling doors off, breaking windows, just basically removing the car around the individual," he said during the operation.

He said rescuers had to be careful not to "shift that concrete structure that’s above them."

A structural engineer was on-site, Trudeau said, and a crane would likely be needed to secure the broken beam.

RCMP spokesman Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said the building may have suffered "structural damage."

Trudeau said multiple "specific hazards" made the operation unusual.

“We've had similar events, but nothing quite this complex and specific,” said Trudeau.

– With files from Canadian Press