San Diego
A chain reaction crash on a Mission Bay Park bridge Friday night killed a sailor when the car in which he was riding hit the rear of another auto stopped in traffic and caught fire.
The dead man, whose name had not been released by the San Diego County Coroner’s Office Saturday night, was trapped inside a car driven by another Navy man, 19-year-old Kevin Chambers. Chambers was reported in stable condition with abdominal injuries and facial abrasions at Scripps Memorial Hospital-La Jolla Hospital Saturday night.
San Diego police said Chambers’ car hit the back of another vehicle that was stopped for traffic on the Ventura Bridge on West Mission Bay Drive. The stopped car then hit the vehicle in front of it, forcing that car into a third auto, which struck a fourth. Chambers’ car and the car it struck burst into flames, police said.
Witnesses said that the dead man was trapped because his foot was wedged in the car’s flooring, making it impossible to rescue him.
The accident occurred shortly before 10 p.m. Friday as the audience at a San Diego Pops concert was leaving Mission Bay Park.
Police said that seven people were taken to area hospitals for examination and treatment after the crash.
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