The Region : 2 Die, 3 Hurt in Ortega Highway Crash

A traffic accident on Ortega Highway in Orange County near the Riverside County line killed two men and injured three other persons, one critically, California Highway Patrol and Fire Department officials said. The accident, which involved only one car, occurred on the rain-slick road about 7:15 p.m., according to a motorist who stopped soon after the crash to help the victims. Paramedics took one of the victims, a woman, to Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo, a county Fire Department official said. None of the victims has been identified. According to R.J. Palacios, 34, of Sunnymead, the two men were dead when he came upon the overturned car. Palacios said he helped free the critically injured woman, who was trapped in the back seat.