Women Killed When Van Plummeted Off 101 Freeway Identified

STUDIO CITY, CA -- Authorities Tuesday identified two women who were killed when a minivan crashed through a concrete bridge railing and landed on the southbound Hollywood (101) Freeway in the Cahuenga Pass.

The victims were in a 2017 Toyota Sienna van that barreled downhill on Barham Boulevard and crashed at the traffic light at the freeway frontage road, now called W.C. Fields Drive, at 7:20 p.m. Saturday, according to police.

A portion of the 80-year-old bridge's antique cathedral-style concrete railing was broken where the van went through it.

Officer Mike Lopez of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations office said the minivan also struck a traffic sign and a chain-link fence before landing on the freeway about 25 feet below.

As the van came to a stop, a southbound 2009 Kia on the freeway smashed into the wreckage, but its driver suffered only minor injuries.

Agnes Cabatu, 58, of Visalia, and Pacita Mariano of Los Angeles, whose age was not released, were pronounced dead at the scene, the coroner's office reported.

Detectives from the LAPD's Valley Traffic Division asked anyone who saw the crash to call them at (818) 644-8115.

-- City News Service, photo via Shutterstock