Coroner IDs Deadly Motorcycle Crash Victims From Ortega Wreck

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — Two motorcyclists who died after colliding head-on on the Ortega Highway/SR-74 over the weekend have been publicly identified by the Riverside County coroner's office. Both men were from the Orange County area, and both men died within minutes of each other at the scene of the Sunday collision.

Coroner's and CHP officials say Gilbert Banuelos, 24, was riding a Yamaha motorcycle eastbound "at a high rate of speed" when he crossed over a double yellow line while attempting to take a curve in the roadway around 10:25 a.m. Beanuelos died at 10:41 a.m. after crashing head-on into another motorcyclist, reports indicate.

Meanwhile, 27-year-old Andre Dang, who lived in Buena Park, was the motorcyclist whom Banuelos collided into, according to the coroner's office and California Highway Patrol. He was pronounced dead at 10:52 a.m.

The CHP closed both lanes of State Route 74 at the crash scene until 1 p.m. and closed access to the westbound route at Grand Avenue in Lake Elsinore. Eastbound traffic was blocked at Nichols Institute Road in Rancho Santa Margarita while the investigation was conducted.

Ortega Highway, which winds through the Santa Ana Mountains, is known for a higher-than-usual incidence of deadly motorcycle crashes.

On Aug. 20, a 22-year-old San Clemente man was killed on the highway in a head-on crash when he crossed into the wrong side of the roadway while speeding and was hit by an SUV, the CHP said.

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• 2 Motorcyclists Killed In Head-On Ortega Highway Crash: CHP

— Image via Pixabay / City News Service contributed to this report