Speeding Car Chase Leaves 2 Dead, 1 Injured in Fiery Crash

Two people were killed and another critically injured when their car crashed and caught fire at the end of a California Highway Patrol pursuit in the North Tustin area of unincorporated Orange County, the agency announced Sunday.

The chase began on the northbound Costa Mesa (55) Freeway, north of Dyer Road, where a silver Kia Sol was spotted speeding at least 90 miles per hour, a CHP dispatcher said.

The Kia continued northbound and got off the freeway at the 17th Street exit, at a high rate of speed, approaching Newport Avenue where the drive lost control of the car. The Kia crashed into a brick column, overturned several times and caught fire, she said.

CHP officers were able to pull out one male passenger from the vehicle, but could not rescue the driver and another passenger in the burning car, she said.

Paramedics, dispatched to the scene at 2:03 a.m. Saturday, rushed a man in his early 20s to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, in critical condition, Orange County Fire Authority Steve Concialdi said.

"The other two people in the vehicle died instantly,'' Concialdi said

News of the Saturday morning crash was not immediately released.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
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