Six Killed, Eight Injured in Fiery Crash | Los Angeles
08.04.2022 | 1:40 PM | LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Six people, including an infant and a pregnant woman, were killed and eight other people were injured Thursday in a fiery multi- vehicle crash caused by a speeding car that ran a red light in the unincorporated Windsor Hills area.
Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters were called just before 1:40 p.m. to La Brea and Slauson avenues, near Ladera Park, on what was initially reported as a fire and discovered that at as many as six vehicles had collided in the intersection after a Mercedes-Benz was seen speeding southbound on La Brea Avenue, resulting in the fire, the department reported.
Video from the scene showed the suspect Mercedes-Benz traveling at a high rate of speed, running a red light at the intersection and crashing directly into a dark-colored sedan, which in turn struck several other vehicles. The Mercedes-Benz and two other vehicles burst into flames following the collision, and the wreck came to a stop at the southwest corner of the intersection after striking a gas station sign.
The fire department and the California Highway Patrol reported three adults and one infant died in the collision, and that there were multiple ejections due to the crash. One of those killed in the crash, a pregnant woman, lost her baby due to the collision and the fetus was being counted among the deceased “due to rare circumstances,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
The CHP reported a sixth victim was later found dead in the burned wreckage of one vehicle, though further information was not immediately available. At least eight other people were injured in the collision, though the extent of their injuries was not immediately known.
The Mercedes-Benz was driven by a 40-year-old woman who was being treated at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center for major injuries, according to the CHP. According to NBC4, she is a travel nurse and was being interviewed by the CHP.
Her name was not released.
The minors who died ranged in age from 1 to 16, KCAL reported.
Veronica Esquivel, 40, told the Daily News she was about to pump gas at one of the intersection’s four stations when the crash occurred.
“I heard the collision. I saw the fire … you see the fire at a gas station I just immediately thought explosion,” Esquivel said. “I saw things flying in the air … I didn’t know if something was going to come through and hit me.”
The cause of the collision was under investigation, and the intersection of La Brea and Slauson avenues was closed for an unknown duration.
Copyright 2022, City News Service, Inc.
CNS-08-04-2022 23:27
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