LOCAL : 2 Die in Nordhoff St. Accidents

Two people were killed in unrelated accidents 15 minutes apart on Nordhoff Street in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles police said today.

In the first accident at 11:30 p.m. Thursday, a passenger in a car that hit a street light and then a tree in Northridge was killed. The driver jumped from the wreckage and fled, said Detective Henson Dial.The male passenger, who was killed instantly, had no wallet and his identity is not known, Dial said.

At 11:45 p.m., at Nordhoff Street near Costello Avenue in Panorama City, two elderly women were struck by a car as they attempted to cross the street, Officer Dennis Smith said. Edythe Renninger, 84, of Panorama City, was fatally injured, and Mary Casey, 74, of Panorama City, suffered minor injuries.

George Holtz, 76, of Panorama City, was driving westbound and could not stop in time or avoid hitting the women, who were jaywalking, police said. Holtz was not cited, Smith said.