Five killed when van lands on top of car in Hesperia
Five people, including three children, were killed when a van veered into oncoming traffic in Hesperia early Sunday, struck another vehicle and landed on top of the car.
The crash occurred shortly before 7 a.m. when the driver of the van traveling east on Main Street crossed into the westbound lanes for unknown reasons and smashed into a Honda sedan that was stopped at a stop sign at Balsam Avenue, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
A man and a boy from the Honda were taken to nearby hospitals where they were pronounced dead, according to the Sheriff’s Department. A woman and a girl trapped inside the car were pronounced dead at the scene.
About 1:30 p.m., emergency and heavy equipment tow-truck personnel removed the van from the Honda. The body of a third child was discovered hidden in the wreckage after the van was removed.
“Due to the extreme structural damage, the victim was concealed and could not be accessed/seen by emergency personnel,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
The van was occupied only by a male driver, who had minor injuries and was treated at the scene. No arrests have been made.
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Sheriff’s Department’s Hesperia station, which is seeking information from witnesses.
The names of the deceased were not yet being released, pending identification and notification of their next of kin, said Jodi Miller, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Main Street was closed near the scene of the crash Sunday while investigators were on the scene.
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