CAMARILLO : Motorist Killed in Conejo Grade Crash

A 28-year-old man who planned to move from Pennsylvania to Westlake was killed traveling down the Conejo Grade on Tuesday morning when he swerved to avoid materials on the highway and was hit broadside by an 18-wheel tractor-trailer, officials said.

Mohan Thurairaj, who had just completed a degree in engineering, died of internal injuries at 10:42 a.m. at Los Robles Regional Medical Center, Deputy Coroner Jim Wingate said. Thurairaj’s parents live in India, Wingate said.

A passenger, Ramesh A. Kasilingam, 28, of Altadena, was treated at the hospital for minor injuries, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The driver of the truck, Ronald Lee Papez, and his passenger, Robert M. Parjell, both 42-year-old Covina residents, were uninjured.

Thurairaj was driving north on the Ventura Freeway north of Camarillo Springs Road about 9:55 a.m. when he swerved into the truck’s lane to avoid a blue container that had fallen from a pickup truck, the CHP reported. Papez was unable to avoid hitting Thurairaj’s car, which spun 180 degrees into his lane.