Sailor Killed in Head-On Crash Near the Border
A sailor returning from Tijuana was killed early Sunday when the car he was driving north in the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 hit another vehicle head on, said the California Highway Patrol.
The accident occurred near the San Ysidro Boulevard exit at 3:15 a.m., investigators said. The identity of the dead driver was being withheld, pending notification of relatives. The coroner’s office said the driver’s age is unknown.
Mirna Luque, 30, of Tijuana, the driver of the southbound car, swerved to avoid the wrong-way vehicle, “but, evidently, he swerved at the same time and hit her head-on,” said Gary Kiger, a spokesman for the CHP.
Luque suffered major injuries and was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center, Kiger said. She and passenger Belinda Carreno, 23, were returning to their homes in Mexico. Carreno suffered minor injuries and was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in Chula Vista, where she was later released.
Phillip Roy, 21, one of two passengers in the sailor’s car, suffered major injuries and was taken to Balboa Naval Hospital. Chris Carnell, 21, the other, suffered moderate injuries and was taken to Scripps Memorial in Chula Vista. Roy and Carnell are also in the Navy.
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