3 from Inland Empire killed in fiery crash near LAX
Three people were killed and a 19-year-old was critically injured when a car crashed and flipped over while driving toward the 405 Freeway near Los Angeles International Airport.
The wreck occurred just before 8 a.m. Saturday on the Century Boulevard connector road to the southbound lanes of the freeway, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The driver, Aldo Noe Acosta Verdin, 19, veered off the road into a dirt embankment and smashed into a concrete column, causing the 2008 Scion to flip upward, the CHP said. The roof of the car slammed into the concrete column and the front of the car pressed into the ground.
Of the four people in the car, only one survived. Devin Thomas, 19, of Moreno Valley was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center with major injuries, according to the CHP.
Verdin, a resident of Moreno Valley, and an unidentified 24-year-old woman from San Bernardino died at the scene. A 16-year-old girl from Moreno Valley was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.
The CHP is examining what caused the crash, but investigators believe the driver’s speed was a factor.
The collision forced the road to be closed for about four hours.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call CHP Officer Rezai at (310) 642-3939.
For more news in California, follow @MattHjourno.
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