3 dead after SUV crashes off Oceanside highway, strikes pole

At least three people were killed Thursday afternoon when their SUV crashed off state Route 78 in Oceanside, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The accident happened just after 2 p.m. on west SR 78 approaching El Camino Real, said CHP spokesman Officer Mark Latulippe. The Mitsubishi Outlander veered off the freeway and hit a pole near the intersection of Vista Way and Valley Glen Drive.

Those killed were a male driver, a male passenger in the front seat and a female passenger in the back, Latulippe said. Their names and ages were not immediately available.

Latulippe said he happened to be about a mile from the crash. He arrived to find the vehicle starting to burn and extinguished the flames.

Helicopter footage from a TV news station showed the SUV struck a light post on Vista Way, which runs parallel to SR 78 and is separated from the highway by about 15 feet of grass and a chain-link fence.

No other details were immediately available.