LOCAL : 2 Women, 77, Die in 4-Car Crash

Two elderly women involved in a four-car crash died after their car rolled over a 50-foot embankment and landed in a Newport Beach shopping center parking lot, police said today.

The two women and their husbands were visiting from Salt Lake City. Their car crashed with three others at 11:15 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Jamboree Road and East Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach, Sgt. Andy Gonis said.

Coroner’s investigators identified one of the women as Mary Riley, 77. The other woman’s name was being withheld until relatives could be notified. She also was 77.

Their husbands reportedly were taken to local hospitals with injuries. Two other people were also hurt, but no information on conditions of the four were available. Preliminary details of the accident were sketchy.

“This was a big crash, and it’s going to take awhile to figure out what happened,” Gonis said.

He said that after the crash, the car with the elderly couples continued to roll over an embankment at Jamboree Road. The car became airborne as it bounced down the 50-foot hill and landed in the Bayside Shopping Center parking lot. The cause of the accident is still being investigated, he said.