5 killed, 2 hurt in head-on crash on Northern Calif. highway
Five people died and two were injured in a fiery head-on crash in Northern California on Saturday evening, authorities said.
A 2012 Mercedes collided with a 2012 Nissan on Highway 120 in Tuolumne County at about 6:30 p.m., said CHP Officer Nick Norton. Both cars caught fire and started a blaze on a nearby hillside, which was quickly extinguished.
No information about the victims’ identities was available, and no other vehicles were involved. Both survivors were airlifted to hospitals in Modesto with severe injuries.
The Mercedes was registered to a driver in the San Jose area, and the Nissan to a driver in Merced.
Authorities do not know how fast the vehicles were going or which one veered off its path. Both cars were largely destroyed.
“One car crossed over,” Norton said. “It’s not clear which. There’s not much left there.”
The section of highway where the collision occurred is a remote two-lane freeway with no divider or median, Norton said.
Highway 120 near Smith Station Road has been closed since the accident and remained inaccessible through most of Saturday night, Norton said.
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