Cause of Fatal Van Rollover Still Unknown; 3 Remain in Hospital

With one daughter dead, two others hospitalized with serious injuries and her husband in intensive care, Estella Lopez was too overwhelmed Friday to shed light on what caused the traffic accident that had killed her 9-year-old daughter, Crystal.

On Friday, Lopez worried about her surviving daughters, 6-year-old Naomi, listed in serious condition at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, and 7-year-old Ruth, in the pediatric intensive care unit at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara.

Both girls had to undergo surgery, officials said.

Lopez’s husband, 46-year-old Isaias Lopez, was at Ventura County Medical Center, listed in serious but stable condition.

Isaias Lopez was driving the family’s Ford van south on California 33 about 7:30 p.m. Thursday when, for still-unexplained reasons, the van swerved and then flipped several times just south of Stanley Avenue, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said. Crystal was thrown from the van and died at the scene, and the rest of the family was taken to area hospitals.

Estella Lopez, 42, was the only one who escaped serious injuries, officials said. She spent all day Friday at the hospitals where her husband and children were.

“She is still grieving and very worried about her children,” said Carol Dimse, assistant executive director of Community Memorial Hospital.

Traffic investigators were still piecing together what happened and could not say whether Crystal was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.