Four Traffic Accidents Take a Toll of 7 Lives : Carnage: Four die as stolen car overturns. Driver in another fatal accident is sought after fleeing the scene.

In less than 12 hours, four traffic accidents claimed seven lives in San Diego County, authorities reported Wednesday.

At 2 a.m., four men were killed when the driver of a stolen car missed a curve on California 76, a mile east of Interstate 15 in Pala, and the car plunged down an embankment, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Four of the five occupants were thrown from the car when it flipped onto its roof. The remaining man was being treated at Palomar Medical Center.

Three men were pronounced dead at the scene. Enrique Yepez, 19, was was pronounced dead, at Palomar Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. The CHP withheld the identities of the other victims, pending notification of relatives. Investigators identified some of the occupants as illegal immigrants.

On Tuesday about 2:30 p.m., a car with five occupants veered off California 78 near Old Pasqual Road east of Escondido and crashed into a hill. One passenger died and three others were seriously injured.

The driver of the car fled on foot and is being sought for questioning, CHP Officer Tom Christian said.

The injured were taken to Palomar Medical Center. Cecila Munoz, 24, of Escondido, was listed in serious condition Wednesday night with chest and pelvis injuries. Samuel Martinez, 19, of San Marcos, was in serious condition with a broken collarbone and head injuries. Patricia Bautista, 19, of Escondido, was in fair condition with cuts on both knees, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The name of the dead passenger was withheld pending notification of relatives.

Less than an hour after that accident, an 81-year-old man apparently suffered a heart attack while driving on Interstate 8, east of Camino Canada in El Cajon.

“He tried to pull over to the side of the road, but continued over the shoulder,” CHP Officer Diane Lower said.

The car carrying William Crofton Sr. of San Diego and his wife, Lee Crofton, 78, slid about 100 feet down an embankment before crashing into a cement flood control channel, Lower said.

Coroner’s investigators said it was not clear whether Crofton died from the heart attack or injuries in the accident. Lee Crofton was in critical condition Wednesday night at Mercy Hospital, hospital spokesman Debbie Seitz said.

Another fatal accident occurred within minutes, when a 23-year-old motorcyclist crashed into a car in the 900 block of Jamacha Road in El Cajon. John Joseph Sacco, 23, of El Cajon was pronounced dead at the scene, shortly after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Traffic officers were investigating the accident, said Casilda Ruiz, a spokeswoman for the El Cajon Police Department.

On Monday night, an eighth person was killed when he lost control of his car on a freeway connecting ramp in El Cajon, authorities said. Two others were injured, one critically, in the 9:20 p.m. accident.

Raymond Johnson-Kabbeko, 18, of Santee, was driving at least 70 m.p.h. when he reached the ramp connecting Interstate 8 and California 67, CHP Officer Lana Andrews said. The car hit the curb of the ramp and overturned at least three times, Andrews said.

Johnson-Kabbeko was thrown from the car and suffered severe head injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A passenger in the rear seat, Deborah L. Gomez, 19, of Santee, was also thrown from the car into a roadside ditch. She was being treated at Sharp Memorial Hospital for a broken neck and fractured skull.

A third passenger, Dave Grinde, 18, of El Cajon was treated for neck and back pain at Mercy Hospital and was released Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.