Saratoga Woman Lone Survivor of SUV that Crashed in Tuolumne Co.

A Saratoga woman suffered major injuries in a two-car collision that killed five people in Tuolumne County near Yosemite National Park over the weekend, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

The woman was a passenger with four other people inside a 2012 Mercedes-Benz SUV on westbound state Highway 120 at Smith Station Road in Groveland, where they collided with a 2012 Nissan Maxima heading east around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, CHP spokesman Nicholas Norton said.

The Mercedes ignited after the collision and sparked a small grass fire, which was quickly extinguished by emergency crews, according to Norton.

Marcos Martinez, 22, of Groveland, was driving the Nissan and was pronounced dead at the scene, Norton said.

A woman driving the Mercedes and three other passengers in the car were also pronounced dead at the scene, he said. The names of the four people in the Mercedes who died will not be released until they have been identified and their next of kin have been notified, according to Norton.

The Saratoga woman, who is in her 50s, suffered major injuries and was flown to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, Norton said.

Martinez’s passenger in the Nissan, a 22-year-old Merced woman, was airlifted to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto with major injuries, according to Norton.

The Mercedes was registered out of San Jose, Norton said. Investigators are looking into whether drugs or alcohol were a factor in the collision, he said.

The roadway was closed for about five hours after the crash, Norton said. Anyone with information about the collision is asked to call the CHP’s Sonora area office at (209) 984-3944 and ask for Officer Griefer.

--Bay City News Service, photo via Shutterstock