Chain-Reaction Crash Injures Baby, 8 Others

Nine people were injured Saturday morning when a speeding Hyundai slammed into the rear of a pickup truck near the Magic Mountain Parkway exit of the Golden State Freeway in Valencia, setting off a chain reaction, the California Highway Patrol reported.

An 18-month-old girl, who had been sitting on the lap of a woman in the passenger seat of the Hyundai, was flown to Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles. Elena Mesa-Huerta was in fair condition in the hospital’s intensive care unit Saturday evening.

Also injured in the Hyundai were Roman Mesa, 25; Juan de Luna, 17; Eduardo Vasquez, 21, of Sun Valley, the driver, and Rosa Vasquez, 19. They suffered broken bones and facial cuts, the CHP said. Their conditions were unavailable Saturday night.

The Hyundai was traveling about 80 m.p.h. in the right lane when it slammed into a Mitsubishi pickup truck, CHP Officer Abel Hernandez said.

The rear-end collision pushed the pickup forward with such force that the two cars ahead of it were struck, Hernandez said. A line of cars was backed up on the freeway exit at the time.

Brothers Carlos Ollendorff, 14, and Martin Ollendorff, 6, were ejected from the bed of the pickup, Hernandez said. Both were in fair condition Saturday night at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, hospital officials said.

Their parents, Martin and Marisel Ollendorff, who were riding in the cab, suffered minor injuries. They were treated and released from the Valencia hospital.

No one in the other two cars was injured.

Five of the injured were airlifted in helicopters to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital and Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

The northbound freeway lanes were shut down for half an hour, and traffic was backed up for about 4 1/2 miles, the CHP reported.