2 girls die as big rig hits family van in O.C.

Two sisters, ages 3 and 4, were killed, and their 5-year-old brother was in critical condition, after a big rig slammed into the back of their minivan Friday on Interstate 5 in Mission Viejo, authorities said.

The children’s mother and grandmother were also hospitalized with moderate injuries, authorities said. The trucker, from Apple Valley, was not hurt.

The victims’ names were withheld pending notification of relatives.

The truck rear-ended the minivan about 1 p.m. just north of Oso Parkway, said Officer Katrina Lundgren, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol.

The truck, loaded with electronics equipment, was traveling about 55 to 60 mph in the southbound slow lane, she said, when the driver realized “that traffic had stopped in front of him. He couldn’t stop in time.”

The impact pushed the family’s minivan into a Chevy Suburban.

The children, who were riding in the rear of the van, were in child safety seats and booster seats, Lundgren said, but “due to the intrusion into the vehicle by the big rig, it didn’t make any difference.”

The children were taken to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, she said, where the girls were pronounced dead and the boy was in surgery “fighting for his life.”

The mother and grandmother were airlifted to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, Lundgren said, and the driver of the Suburban was taken to Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills with minor injuries.

There was no evidence of alcohol or drugs being involved, Lundgren said, nor of “inattention of any kind.”

The accident remains under investigation.

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david.haldane@latimes.com