A speeding car ran a red light and plowed into cars Thursday in a fiery crash that killed at least four people, including a baby, just outside of Los Angeles, authorities said.
Shortly after 1:30 p.m., a Mercedes-Benz sedan caused a crash involving as many as six cars near a gas station in the unincorporated Windsor Hills, about 10 miles southwest of downtown L.A., according to the California Highway Patrol.
Several people were flung from the cars and two vehicles caught fire. Television reports showed the blackened and mangled cars, as well as a child’s car seat among the debris covering the street.
Video showed the Mercedes careening through an intersection, striking at least two cars that caught fire and wound up against the gas station’s corner sign. One car also was torn in half.
Three adults, including one who was pregnant, and a baby, were killed, California Highway Patrol Officer Alicia Kolter said.
Security video of a crash in Windsor Hills in Los Angeles County, Calif. Aug. 4, 2022.
(CBS Los Angeles)
“I was about to pump gas, and all of a sudden, I hear all the noises from all the collision, and then the fire, explosion, and I saw things, metals, and things flying in the air,” witness Veronica Esquivel told CBS Los Angeles. “So, I just covered myself behind the pump.”
Nine people were injured, including six children, authorities said. Among them was the driver of the speeding Mercedes, who was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, CBS Los Angeles reported.
Debra Jackson, another witness, described what she experienced to CBS Los Angeles.
“All of a sudden, I heard a big explosion, but as I was trying to turn around, the flames just went over everybody,” Jackson said. “The flames went over my whole car, and they told me to jump out of my car, because I was trying to open the door to get out of the car to go to the gas pump, and they told me to jump out of the car … so I jumped out of the car, and I just left my car sitting right there.”