LOCAL : Motorist Killed, 7 Others Hurt in Collision on Ventura Freeway

One man was killed and seven other motorists were injured this morning when a speeding car crashed through the center divider on the Ventura Freeway in Glendale and collided with two oncoming cars, the California Highway Patrol said.

The 12:25 a.m. accident, in which four people were ejected from one car, closed three eastbound lanes of the freeway east of the San Fernando Road exit for three hours.

CHP Officer Dean Gustafson said the accident occurred when a speeding Honda Prelude carrying five people went out of control and crashed into the steel and fence center divider.

“It went right through it,” Gustafson said. “It hit a steel post and cable and went under the fence.”

The Honda then continued westbound in the eastbound lanes and struck a Hyundai and Jaguar. Because it was early morning, traffic was sparse and only the two oncoming cars were hit, Gustafson said.

When the three cars collided, four people in the Honda were ejected. One of them, 19-year-old Sarkis Shirinyan of Hollywood, was killed. The other three and a fourth passenger who was not ejected from the car were critically injured. They were identified as Arutyan Tagavityan, 19; George Petoyan, 19; Akop Oganyan, 18, and a 17-year-old boy whose name was not released. All are from Los Angeles.

The driver of the Hyundai, Fereydoun Daemi, 49, of Glendale, suffered moderate injuries, and his wife, Heidi, 44, suffered minor injuries. The Jaguar driver, Ellen Geiger, 37, of Pasadena, suffered minor injuries.

The injured were being treated at four hospitals in the area, the CHP said.

Gustafson said that because four occupants were ejected from the Honda and those who survived were seriously injured, investigators have been unable to determine who was driving the car or why it went out of control.