Girl Badly Burned in Van Fire That Killed Sister, Three Adults

Four passengers died and a little girl was severely burned Saturday when flames engulfed a family van driving in South-Central Los Angeles, authorities said.

The driver and his 5-year-old daughter escaped the flames, but a younger daughter and three women were trapped inside the van when firefighters arrived, city Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said.

The father, identified as Carlos Alvarez, and his surviving daughter, Rosemarie, were taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. The girl was transferred to the County-USC Medical Center burn unit in extremely critical condition with second- and third-degree burns over 85% of her body, a medical center spokeswoman said.

Alvarez was treated for minor burns on his hand and was sedated, a nursing supervisor said.

Names of the dead have not been released, but authorities said they included Alvarez’s 3-year-old daughter, two 21-year-old women and a 23-year-old woman. The women were Alvarez’s sister-in-law and two of her friends, officials said.

Witnesses told firefighters that flames and smoke were shooting from the van when it pulled into a Bank of America parking lot near Central Avenue and 104th Street about 1:15 p.m. Saturday.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames and discovered the bodies inside.

One witness said the girl was in flames when she was passed through the window by someone in the van. Alvarez tried frantically to get the others out, a witness said.