Sole Crash Survivor Is Comatose

The only survivor of an accident at the Los Angeles Aqueduct that killed a Palmdale woman and her three children remained comatose and in critical condition Thursday at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

California Highway Patrol investigators continued analyzing crash data to determine why the driver, 32-year-old Marisol Morales, swerved off the two-lane Pearblossom Highway in Antelope Valley early Wednesday.

She and her three children -- Raul Jr., 9, Silvia, 5, and Oscar, 1 -- were killed. A 10-year-old cousin, Rosa Ramirez of North Hollywood, is on life support.

Rosa may have been submerged for as long as 30 minutes. Hospital spokesman Steve Rutledge could not characterize her condition, but said “nobody that’s been under water that long could make a full recovery.”

CHP Officer Ron Valencia said witnesses described Morales’ driving moments before the crash as erratic.

The dead woman’s husband, Raul Morales, said she did not have a driver ‘s license, a fact confirmed Thursday by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Relatives said the family moved to Palmdale from North Hollywood five years ago after Raul’s brother, who lived with them, was killed.

Raul’s cousin, Jenifer Sanchez, 18, said he is considering returning to El Salvador.

“He came over here for a better life, to forget about his brother,” Sanchez said. “Now he’s moving even farther away to forget about this.”

Thursday was a difficult day at Tamarisk Elementary School in Palmdale, where Raul and Silvia Morales had attended third grade and kindergarten, respectively.

Assistant Principal Patricia Nunley said psychologists were at the school to answer children’s questions and console a number of shaken parents.

Nunley said the school has set up an account to help Raul Morales cover burial costs in El Salvador. Donations may be made to the Morales Children’s Fund at any Washington Mutual branch, account No. 1931603062.