A US woman was arrested Friday, charged with causing a car crash that killed five people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant.
Less than 20 minutes ago
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The arrested woman allegedly drove a gray Mercedes-Benz at high speed through a red light into a traffic light when she crashed into at least six vehicles, reports Los Angeles Times.
The woman, who is 37 years old, is charged with suspicion of grossly negligent homicide by vehicle, reports California Highway Patrol, California traffic police. She is currently in hospital, and the police are investigating whether she was under the influence of alcohol when she crashed into the other cars.
The incident was captured by nearby security cameras and shows several people being thrown from their vehicles. In the video, you can see that three of the vehicles involved in the accident were engulfed in flames.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department, the fire department in Los Angeles, was quickly on the scene, and published a video showing the rescuers trying to save people from the burning cars.
They reported shortly after that four people had been killed and eight injured. Later, the death toll rose to five, when rescuers found a person inside one of the burned-out cars.
The traffic police said on Friday that due to the extensive fire damage, it is currently unknown what make and model the vehicles involved were, as well as which vehicles the parties involved were driving.
The car accident happened near Windsor Hills in Los Angeles.
–– It looked like the entire intersection was filled with fire from corner to corner, says Harper Washington ABC7. Washington witnessed the incident.
– At first I thought that someone had dropped a bomb on us, before I realized that it was a car that had crashed.
Witnesses report that they could see smoke from the accident several kilometers away.
Family died
One of the victims was Ashley Ryan (23), who was eight and a half months pregnant, and her family: Ryan was on his way to a doctor’s appointment with his girlfriend and their one-year-old child when the car crashed into them. The impact killed everyone in the car.
Ryan’s mother, Sharita Randleston, tells NBC Los Angeles that she hopes the accused woman will be held accountable for the accident.
Veronica Esquivel witnessed the incident and told KTLA-TV that she saw a baby being thrown from a vehicle and landing near her. She describes that the rescuers tried to revive the baby, but that life could not be saved.
Police have not yet released the names of the other victims.
Eight people were taken to hospital. Of the eight, six were teenagers, one of whom suffered major injuries.
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