Maui firefighters raced to rescue severely injured women in two dramatic accidents after one woman and a vehicle fell off highways on opposite sides of the island at about the same time Sunday.

A 23-year-old Kihei woman was found at the base of a steep cliff off Honoapiilani Highway at 4:40 p.m. She fell 60 feet in an area between the Nakalele blowhole and the Olivine Pools. She was taken by ambulance to Maui Medical Center in serious condition.

The Maui Fire Department’s main helicopter was unable to participate in the rescue because it was being used in a rescue operation on Hana Highway where one woman died and another was injured when a sport utility vehicle was driven off a cliff at 4:42 p.m. in Puuiki.

Witnesses said the driver of the SUV, a 37-year-old Haiku woman, was arguing with someone in the vehicle before she drove off Hana Highway about four miles south of Hana.

The SUV crashed into a rock wall on the makai side of the highway and fell 200 feet.

A passenger in the SUV, a 37-year-old woman from Haiku, died at the scene.

In the Honoapiilani Highway accident, fire officials said firefighters from the Napili station were on scene at 5:05 p.m. and were informed that the 23-year-old female from Kihei had been found at the base of a steep cliff. The accident occurred at mile marker 39.5 on Honoapiilani Highway.

Firefighters could hear her cries for help from the rocky coastline 60 feet below the road, but could not rappel down because of unsafe conditions.

Maui fire officials were forced to use their backup helicopter to lower firefighters by rope to the inaccessible shoreline.

Firefighters airlifted her to a landing zone set up on the highway, where she was transferred to paramedics at 6:35 p.m.

The victim was taken by ambulance to Maui Memorial Medical Center in serious condition, as the county’s medevac helicopter was involved in the Hana rescue operation.