3 Killed, 2 Hurt in Head-On Collision

Three people were killed and two others seriously injured in Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday afternoon when a sport utility vehicle swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid rear-ending another car, officials said.

The Chevrolet SUV was headed east at 3:30 p.m. in the far left lane of Foothill Boulevard, just west of the Interstate 15 overpass, Rancho Cucamonga Police Sgt. Nina Jamsen said. It swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid rear-ending another car and slammed into a pickup truck traveling west, Jamsen said.

The pickup, a utility truck for Dan Guerra and Associates, a civil engineering company, burst into flames.

Both drivers and the pickup’s one passenger died at the scene, Jamsen said.

Officials had not identified the victims late Thursday, but officials said two of the victims were male. The gender of the driver of the pickup could not be determined, police said.

Rancho Cucamonga firefighters and police officers helped two passengers in the SUV escape through windows.

One of the injured was airlifted to Loma Linda Medical Center and the other was taken to a county hospital, Jamsen said.