2 Thrown From Bed of Truck; 1 Dies

One man was killed and another injured early Sunday when they were thrown from the back of a pickup that blew a tire and crashed into a concrete divider on the Golden State Freeway north of Sylmar, the California Highway Patrol said.

The fatally injured man, whose name was not being released until his relatives could be notified, died at the scene of the 1 a.m. crash, on the southbound side of the freeway north of Balboa Boulevard, Officer Tim Larios said. The other man in the bed of the truck, whose name was not released, suffered moderate injuries and was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Larios said.

The blowout caused the driver to lose control of the truck, which slammed into the divider and then crossed the southbound lanes of the freeway, coming to rest on the right shoulder, Larios said. The driver was apparently not injured, Larios said.