At least two teenagers were among five people killed in a horrific freeway crash early Monday morning in Long Beach.
George Dobbs and Ariahh Slemaker, both 15, of Long Beach were identified Monday night by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office. The identities of the three other victims killed in the 4 a.m. crash on the 710 Freeway near the 91 Freeway were not available early Tuesday.
A sixth person in the Hyundai Sonata was hospitalized with what authorities described as major injuries.
Dashcam video shared by another driver showed the Sonata traveling at high speed before slamming into a row of attenuators, safety barrels designed to absorb the force of crash impact, at a freeway exit. The car became airborne, flipped and caught on fire.
“I was probably going about 60, so when I saw them speed past me I was like, ‘Oh wow, they’re going pretty fast,’” a witness who provided the dashcam video told Telemundo52. “I was pretty scared for the people in that car. I didn’t realize there were so many people.”
Not everyone inside the car, which seats five, was wearing a seatbelt. One person was ejected. Five people were trapped inside the burning wreckage.
It was not immediately clear who was driving the sedan.
CHP officials asked anyone who may have witnessed the crash to contact investigators.
“Our investigation, right now, indicates that only one vehicle was involved,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Angelia Gonzales.
The CHP issued a SigAlert shutting down all northbound lanes of the freeway in the crash zone for its investigation. The road reopened later Monday morning.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
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