Drive Begins at CSUN to Pay for Funerals of 3 Students Killed in Crash

Students and faculty members at California State University, Northridge, have begun a fund-raising drive to pay the funeral expenses of three students who were killed when their car was hit from the side by a two-ton delivery van last week.

Moises Carrillo, a longtime friend of the three women who were killed, two of whom were sisters, said Tuesday that almost $2,000 had been raised since the accident Friday. He said $5,000 is needed to pay for the funerals.

“The students were very, very popular,” Carrillo said. “The students here are taking it pretty bad, especially so close to the holidays.”

Active at University

Carrillo said all three students, who were active in the university’s Chicano Studies Department, were the first people in their families to attend college. He said the sisters’ father is a farm worker in Arvin, near Bakersfield in Kern County.

Police said the accident occurred about 3 a.m. Friday as the women were driving home after a party to celebrate the end of the school term and the holidays.

Their car, driven by Anne Salazar, 22, ran a light on Lindley Avenue and was struck by a delivery van headed east on Roscoe Boulevard in Northridge, police said. Anne Salazar died at the scene and her sister, Aida, 21, died of head injuries Saturday at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. The sisters lived in Reseda while attending classes at CSUN, Carrillo said.

The third student, Maribel Reyes, 18, of Sepulveda, died of head injuries a few hours after the accident at the Northridge hospital.

The driver of the van, Donald Teague, 41, of Pacoima, was treated for minor injuries and released.

Services Planned

A funeral service for the three students will be held on Friday, Carrillo said.

A service for the Salazars will be held at St. Thomas Church in Arvin at 10 a.m. A service for Reyes is scheduled for 9 a.m. at San Conrado Mission Church in Los Angeles.