Fontana, California: Two adults and two children were killed in a highway crash on the outskirts of Los Angeles on Friday after one car smashed into another vehicle that had overheated, the California Highway Patrol said.
The car that overheated had pulled over to the side of Interstate 10 in Fontana, and one of the women inside called her husband for help but, by the time he arrived, his wife was dead, said Officer Jesus Garcia of the California Highway Patrol.
The woman and two children who were inside the car were killed when a pick-up truck veered off the highway and slammed into the stricken car and another car whose driver had stopped to help, Garcia said.
The male driver of the second car also was killed.
The pick-up truck’s driver and the driver of the car that overheated were taken to a hospital.
It’s unclear why the driver of the pick-up veered off the highway, but there were no skid marks before the impact, Garcia said.
He said the husband and son of the woman killed arrived at the scene shortly after the crash and were inconsolable.
“All you can do is try to keep them calm and not let anybody see the body,” Garcia said, adding that officers were able to cover the victims with blankets before family arrived.
Traffic on eastbound Interstate 10 was backed up for kilometres, with two lanes remaining closed throughout the afternoon.
