Canoga Park Woman Dies in Car Crushed by Transformer

A 43-year-old Canoga Park housewife was killed in a freak accident Saturday when a 1,300-pound transformer fell on her car after the vehicle spun of control and hit an electrical pole guide wire, authorities said.

Ok Hui Kim was driving south on Winnetka Avenue about 12:35 p.m. when her car went into a counterclockwise spin, Los Angeles police said. Witnesses saw Kim’s silver 1984 Nissan 200 SX sedan cross into the northbound lanes, go up a curb north of Sherman Way and collide with a bus bench.

When the car hit a guide wire on a power pole, the pole whipped back, causing a large transformer to fall from the top of the pole onto Kim’s car, Sgt. Dennis Zine said.

“The car was absolutely crushed,” Zine said. There were no passengers in the car.

A witness, Eddie Valles of San Pedro, said he tried to open a door to the car when he heard Kim scream for help, but the car was so damaged he could not pry it open.

Kim was pronounced dead after firefighters removed her body from the wreckage, Zine said, and several of her family members were on the scene.

Power lines broken in the accident dangled in the intersection, as firefighters directed traffic around the incident.

The fallen transformer and snapped lines caused power outages to about 1,600 customers, said Dorothy Jensen, a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokeswoman. Outages lasted up to two hours.

Although sporadic rains throughout the morning dampened roads, police said they were not certain that the accident was storm-related.