Truck Overturns, Killing 3 and Injuring 2

Three men were killed and two others injured early Wednesday when their pickup truck spun out of control on the Antelope Valley Freeway, flipped several times and threw them onto the road, California Highway Patrol officers said.

The men, two of whom were riding in the truck’s camper shell, were believed to be swimming pool builders from a San Fernando Valley company on their way to a job in the high desert, police said.

The accident took place about 5:30 a.m. on the northbound side of the freeway near the Via Princessa exit.

The identities of the dead were not made public because their families had not been notified.

Two were found dead at the scene, and another was pronounced dead at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital.

The injured, driver Luis Delatorre, 34, and passenger Carlos Gutierrez, 27, both of San Fernando, were also taken to Newhall Memorial. Delatorre was in fair condition with a neck sprain. Gutierrez suffered a major head injury and was in critical but stable condition, said nursing supervisor Rose Morelli.

CHP Officer Wendy Moore said Delatorre told officers after the crash, “I heard a bang, then lost control.”

She said the truck was traveling the speed limit, no evidence of drinking was found and the mangled 1988 Ford Ranger was being examined in a search for the cause of the crash.