An ambulance struck a car head-on on Fair Oaks Avenue on Saturday, killing an elderly patient who was riding in the back of the ambulance and sending three other people to the hospital, according to the Pasadena Police Department.
The crash occurred just after 4 p.m. on the 1100 block Fair Oaks Avenue, just south of Hammond Street. The patient, a man in his 70s, suffered major injuries in the crash.
He was already in cardiac arrest when firefighters arrived on-scene, Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said. He succumbed to his injuries a short time later.
The driver of the ambulance and his partner suffered apparently minor injuries, the lieutenant said. A woman who was at the wheel of the car, a four-door Jaguar, was hospitalized with injuries believed to include a broken ankle.
The ambulance, operated by Montebello-based Lifeline Ambulance, was taking the patient to a routine medical appointment. It was not using emergency lights or a siren, according to police reports.
The ambulance was heading south and the Jaguar was heading north when the crash took place, he added.
12 Pasadena Fire personnel responded to the multiple injury accident, which was cleared after 70 minutes.
The cause and circumstances of the crash remained under investigation.
