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Three Vehicle Crash Kills Seven
Seven people were pronounced dead after a three vehicle crash occurred in Ventura County. All seven of the deceased were passengers in a minivan which was involved in the accident.
The drivers of two other vehicles involved in the Ventura County accident are injured.
The three-vehicle crash happened at a rural intersection on California 118 west of Moorpark on Monday afternoon in which five of the seven people were killed were children, according to officials.
California Highway Patrol Officers reported that they responded to a call about an accident at California 118 and Hitch Boulevard about 1:40 p.m. but were not prepared to find such 'a horrific scene.'
One corner of the intersection was covered by an overturned Toyota minivan, which had received so much damage in the accident that emergency crews were not immediately able to determine how many people were trapped inside.
The process of finding all the victims took rescue crews two hours.
In a nearby field, the male driver of the Ford van was found unconscious.
Near the center of the intersection was a badly damaged Lincoln sedan, but its female driver was conscious although injured.
Both drivers had been driving alone and they were taken to nearby hospitals.
According to officers, all seven people in the minivan were pronounced dead at the scene. Five were pinned in the wreckage and two had been thrown clear.
The identities of those involved in the crash have not yet been released.
Two women arrived at the scene later that day claiming that their loved ones were among the dead.
CHP officers escorted the women from the scene for further questioning.
The Ventura County Fire Department said the dead included the 34-year-old male driver of the minivan and a 42-year-old woman, who had been riding in the front passenger seat.
The children who were killed in the accident were boys ages 10, 9 and 1, a 2-year-old girl and a 3-month-old girl.
Officials say that all seven were believed to have lived in the area but were not sure if they were related.
The driver of the Ford van was described as a 29-year-old man.According to authorities, he was hospitalized at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks in very critical condition and undergoing treatment.
The driver of the Lincoln was being treated at St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo. Authorities described her injuries as moderate, but have not released her full status.
The crash forced the closure of the California 118, which is a major east-west artery between Simi Valley and Ventura as well as the only direct route between Moorpark and rural Somis, for about five hours.
The police had still not determined the cause of the crash. They were still interviewing witnesses hoping to shed light on the accident.
A public information officer for the Ventura County Fire Department believes that the minivan had been westbound when the accident occurred, but the highway patrol said it still was not officially sure in which direction, and on which road, the vehicles had been traveling.
According to witnesses, the California 118 is a busy, relatively straight two-lane road where cars routinely drive at high speed.
Hitch Boulevard is a smaller two-lane road that leads to Moorpark Home Acres, a housing development about a quarter of a mile south.
The two streets meet up at a T-intersection, with a stop sign for traffic on the boulevard. There are no stop signs or signals for traffic on the highway.