Two die in fatal crash near Alameda

Karen S. Kim

NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- About a dozen youths turned out Monday afternoon

to place a small memorial on the Golden State (5) Freeway where two

people died in an accident.

The two victims were heading northbound on the freeway just south of

the Alameda Avenue offramp at 12:35 a.m. Sunday when the car careened

into a eucalyptus tree off the side of road, police said.

“From what one of our investigators on the scene said, this is one of

the more severe accidents he’s seen,” California Highway Patrol Officer

Vincent Bell said. “Apparently, the car was literally cut in half, and

the bodies of both occupants received extensive, extensive injuries.”

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office identified one of the victims

as 18-year-old Shant Jacques Nakkashian of Chatsworth. The other male

victim had not been identified by late Monday, officials said.

The impact of the car, a 2001 Audi A4, was strong enough to knock over

the eucalyptus tree, Bell said. Witness reports put the vehicle as

driving recklessly before the collision, he added.

The car hit no other vehicles before crashing into the tree. The CHP

is investigating the cause of the accident.