2 Killed When Debris Strikes Van

A 13-pound metal freight container coupling crashed through the windshield of a van, killing two carpoolers on a Los Angeles freeway Thursday, officials said.

The victims, who died at the scene, were identified as Juan Padilla, 34, of North Hollywood and Alfonso Hurtado-Gonzalez, 40, of Arleta, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. The driver and three other passengers, who were not identified, were not seriously hurt. Officials said all six men worked at a parts manufacturing plant and commuted together.

California Highway Patrol Officer Robert McIntosh, the lead investigator in the case, described the metal coupling as a rusted hunk of irregularly shaped steel. The van occupants told him they saw no large vehicles nearby and had no idea where the projectile had come from.

Investigators don’t believe the projectile was deliberately dropped from a nearby overpass. “To go through the van like that, it has to have some kind of speed,” McIntosh said.

The van was headed south on the Golden State Freeway about 5:45 a.m. in light traffic. Near Glendale Boulevard, the driver heard a loud crash. He pulled over to the center divider and discovered the two passengers bleeding from the head.

Thinking that someone had fired a gun at the vehicle, he called his wife in Pacoima and told her to call 911.

Los Angeles Police Department detectives arrived on the scene and concluded the incident didn’t appear to be a criminal act.

Rush-hour traffic backed up for miles after officials closed the southbound lanes to investigate.

The coroner’s office has occasionally had cases in which tires or vehicle parts killed motorists, and there have been criminal investigations of items dropped from overpasses. But coroner’s Lt. Emil Moldovan said he had never heard of an object killing two people at once.

“That’s extremely rare,” he said.

Last year, the American Automobile Assn. estimated that every year 25,000 crashes are caused by road debris nationwide, including as many as 90 fatalities.

Times staff writer Andrew Wang contributed to this report.