Marine Killed in Freeway Crash
One Marine died and another was injured in a traffic accident early Thursday on the Santa Ana Freeway that left their vehicle “engulfed in flames,” the California Highway Patrol said.
The two Marines from Camp Pendleton were heading south in a Ford Ranger pickup truck when it ran onto the right shoulder of the freeway just north of the Lake Forest Drive exit and crashed into a sign pole about 3 a.m., CHP spokesman Bruce Lian said.
There were no witnesses, but an unidentified passing motorist managed to help the passenger, 20-year-old Daniel Laflash, out of the pickup before it caught on fire, Lian said.
Investigators from the county coroner’s office said Thursday afternoon that they were attempting to identify the driver through dental records.
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