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Driver of speeding car kills 6, injures 8 in fiery crash in Windsor Hills
LA County Aug 04, 2022
Multiple victims, including an infant and unborn child, were killed and injured in a multivehicle collision in South LA. | Photo courtesy of NBC Palm Springs
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Six people, including an infant and a pregnant woman, were killed and eight other people were injured Thursday in a fiery multivehicle crash caused by a speeding car that ran a red light in the unincorporated Windsor Hills area.
Los Angeles County Fire Department units were called to the area of South La Brea Avenue and Slauson Avenue just before 1:40 p.m., near Ladera Park, on what was initially reported as a fire and discovered that at as many as six vehicles had collided in the area after a Mercedes-Benz car was seen speeding southbound on South La Brea Avenue, resulting in the fire, according to the LA County Fire Department.
Video from the scene showed the suspect Mercedes 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 and two other vehicles burst into flames following the collision, and the wreck came to a stop at the 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 of the vehicles, 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. 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 Windsor Hills crash was under investigation, and the intersection of South La Brea Avenue and Slauson Avenue was closed for an unknown duration.
Updated Aug. 4, 2022, 10:39 p.m.
