ST. LOUIS—Authorities say a speeding sport utility vehicle crashed landed on the roof of a St. Louis home after hitting an embankment and launching into the air.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the driver was trapped in the SUV when authorities arrived Sunday afternoon. Michael Arras, the St. Louis Fire Department’s deputy chief of special operations, says he has never encountered anything like this before.

Crews carefully extricated the man from the vehicle and took him to a hospital. His condition wasn’t known, but fire officials say he was in and out of consciousness after the crash.

Homeowner Bruce Redding discovered the SUV on his roof when he returned home from the gym. When the 66-year-old got back home, the wreck was still smouldering, he told the Post-Dispatch.

“I can see straight through my house,” Redding told the newspaper. “This is everything that I’ve worked for all my life.”

Redding, who lives alone, said the house has been in the family for 40 years. He recently retired. Fortunately, he said, he had family and friends who would be able to look out for him. The house appears to be perched on a small hill overlooking the street, making it all the more astonishing that the car got so high in the air.

Authorities say a speeding sport utility vehicle crashed into the roof of a St. Louis home on Sunday after hitting an embankment and launching into the air. (The Associated Press)

“The vehicle’s occupant was rescued and transported by EMS in critical condition,” the St. Louis Fire Department posted on Facebook. A video posted by the department depicting the SUV’s predicament had been viewed more than 130,000 times as of Monday afternoon. KMOV-TV reported that the driver was trapped in the car for an hour before being rescued and that it took three hours for the car to be removed from the roof.

“People do drive pretty fast in that area. I’ve never seen anybody come that fast,” a witness, Larry Davis, told KMOV. “I’ll tell you, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life … and I probably won’t ever see it again.