ANAHEIM, CA — Three teenagers were killed and another person was injured Thursday when a car crashed over the side of the Golden State (5) Freeway in Anaheim.
The crash happened at around 3:15 a.m. Thursday at the southbound Lincoln Avenue off-ramp of the freeway, where witnesses reported to the California Highway Patrol seeing a speeding SUV flip when it tried to make a late exit.
The victims were identified as 17-year-old Victor Hugo Delgado of Santa Ana, 16-year-old Robert Miguel Gutierrez-Avalos of Santa Ana, and 15-year-old Levi Jacob Flores of Garden Grove, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the driver of a Ford Edge traveling southbound on the freeway veered off the road for an unknown reason south of Euclid Street.
The SUV slammed into a guardrail and a concrete pillar before plunging down a sloped concrete embankment and overturning.
Two of the boys in the SUV were pronounced dead at the scene and two others were rushed to a nearby hospital where one was later pronounced dead, the CHP said.
Investigators said it appeared that none of the occupants in the car were wearing seatbelts.
The vehicle flew over the side at high speed and two victims were ejected, according to the log.
The crash closed the off-ramp and four main lanes of the freeway, but two right lanes were reopened at about 5 a.m.
All lanes were reopened by 8 a.m., according to the CHP.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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