10 Injured as Students’ Car Crashes, Flips

Ten people were hurt, three of them seriously, when a car full of Capistrano Valley High School students careened out of control Tuesday morning, collided with oncoming traffic and flipped over, trapping three youths inside.

The three students had to be pried out of the mangled Toyota sedan with Jaws of Life tools after passersby managed to free the other teen-agers and tend to other motorists hurt in the wreck.

Investigators had not determined the cause of the 7:30 a.m. crash, but witnesses told police the car carrying the students was weaving in and out of traffic and appeared to be traveling at least 70 m.p.h. when it sideswiped another car and lost control as the six students headed to school.

The car hurtled through the intersection of Marguerite Parkway and Estanciero Drive before it struck a stopped Ford Explorer head-on, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Fred Lisanti. The impact tossed the Toyota into the air and into an oncoming car before it came to rest on its roof.

The Toyota’s driver, Kenneth Wong, 18, of Mission Viejo was airlifted to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center with injuries that included a concussion and broken arms and legs.

Linda Chang, 15, had head injuries and cuts, and Sroothi Jaikumar, 14, suffered broken bones and cuts.