4 Killed, 7 Hurt in Series of Car Crashes : Accidents: Three separate incidents on San Fernando Valley freeways occur within 15 minutes early Saturday morning.

Four people died and seven people were injured in a series of accidents that happened within minutes of each other on San Fernando Valley freeways early Saturday.

“It was a bad morning,” said Brian Humphrey, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. “There was no rhyme or reason” to the accidents.

The most serious of the three accidents occurred at 1:23 a.m. Three people were killed on the eastbound Ventura Freeway east of Cahuenga Boulevard in Toluca Lake when their 1991 Honda Accord slammed into a dump truck parked in the fast lane, according to Sgt. Michael Lincoln of the California Highway Patrol. The victims, all residents of Pasadena, were identified as Kevork Yeghiayan, 23, his sister Izabella Yeghiayan, 21, and Kristine Balikian, 20.

The CHP said Kevork Yeghiayan was driving at speeds of 75 to 90 m.p.h. Lincoln said he did not know what caused the vehicle to veer off course into a coned construction area in the two left lanes.

The impact tore off the roof and the left front portion of the vehicle, Lincoln said. The car breached the cone line and caromed off the center divider into the dump truck, Lincoln said.

Three minutes later in Sylmar, on the transition from the eastbound Simi Valley Freeway to the westbound Foothill Freeway, a carload of teen-agers went off the road, up an embankment and into a light pole, killing one youth and injuring six.

Driver Javier Perez, 16, of Pacoima, died in the accident, while his six passengers, all 15 to 16 years old, suffered minor to moderate injuries, according to Lincoln. The three male and three female passengers, who were not identified, were from Pacoima, Sylmar, Arleta and North Hollywood.

“The driver had the odor of alcohol,” Lincoln said. The injured teen-agers, who suffered cuts and bruises, were treated at area hospitals.

Lastly, at 1:38 a.m., a 22-year-old man was critically injured after his pickup truck rear-ended a tractor-trailer on the southbound Golden State Freeway, south of Van Nuys Boulevard. The victim, whose name was not available, was trapped in the wreckage. It took 20 firefighters using the “Jaws of Life” nearly 15 minutes to extricate the man, Humphrey said.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

The Fire Department arrived before the CHP, which was delayed in getting to the scene because of the unusual confluence of accidents, Humphrey said.

The man, who suffered massive multiple trauma injuries, was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where he was listed in critical condition on Saturday afternoon. Health supervisor Chris Marsh said his condition deteriorated during the day.