Irvine police Monday were working to get to the bottom of a deadly crash in which a speeding Toyota Matrix crashed through an overpass retaining wall, burst into flames and landed in the median of the Santa Ana (5) Freeway.
The name of the man killed in Sunday's roughly 11 p.m. accident was being withheld until he could be positively identified at the coroner's office, Irvine police Lt. Julia Engen said.
The southbound driver, declared dead at the scene, exited in an HOV-only lane at Barranca Parkway, barreled through a concrete, overpass wall and landed in median of the freeway below, she said.
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Irvine police are in charge of the investigation because the crash happened on Barranca, Engen said.
Barranca Parkway, between Irvine Center and Technology drives, was closed for several hours, and some southbound lanes of the freeway were closed until about 4 a.m., Engen said.
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The cause of the collision was under investigation, Engen said.
– City News Service.
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