Violent Crash Kills 6 Youths, Grandmother

Seven people, including six teen-age boys, were killed Friday in a collision that was so violent it split the youths’ compact sedan in half.

The California Highway Patrol said the crash occurred at 12:45 p.m. on California 12 about half a mile from Suisun City. The site is about 60 miles northeast of San Francisco.

Dead at the scene were the six youths and Pauline Buchanan Adams, 68, of San Jose, a passenger in the other vehicle. Her husband, Carmen Adams, 71, who was driving, and their granddaughter, 14-year-old Renee Adams, also were injured. The youths’ identities were not immediately available.

CHP Officer Mark Mathias said witnesses reported that the teen-agers’ eastbound Toyota Corolla had been speeding and passing cars when it swerved to avoid an oncoming delivery truck.

Their car moved into their own lane, then swerved again and careened back into the westbound lane, where it shifted sideways and collided with the San Jose family’s vehicle, a Ford LTD Crown Victoria, which had been behind the delivery truck.

According to witnesses, the teen-agers’ car was cut into two pieces, with the front of the vehicle and the rear section about 30 feet apart. The victims were in the rear section.