2 Dead, 7 Hurt In San Lorenzo Minivan Crash

SAN LORENZO (BCN) - A fatal car crash in San Lorenzo left two people dead at the scene and another seven in area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical, emergency responders said.

The crash between the loaded minivan and a parked flatbed trailer took place at about 8:40 p.m. Tuesday on Worthley Drive just south of Grant Avenue, the California Highway Patrol said.

The minivan, a 1998 Dodge Caravan, was traveling north on Worthley Drive at about 50 mph when the driver, an unidentified 30-year-old Hayward man, was apparently talking to a passenger seated behind him when the car began to drift to the left, CHP said.

The driver's side of the van struck the trailer, which protruded into the left-hand side of the Caravan, CHP said. The crash killed the driver, who was wearing a seatbelt, on impact, CHP said.

The passenger seated directly behind the driver, also a 30-year-old Hayward resident, suffered fatal injuries and was dead by the time the Alameda County Fire Department arrived at the scene, according to fire spokeswoman Aisha Knowles.

The passenger who was killed was not wearing a seatbelt, and nor were six of the other seven passengers that sustained injuries in the crash, according to the CHP. Everyone in the van was male and from Hayward, the CHP said, and their ages ranged from 30 to 56 years old.

A total of five ambulances and four fire response crews with 13 firefighters came to the scene, Knowles said.

Three passengers were transported to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley in critical condition, the CHP said. The remaining four were taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland with moderate and minor injuries, they said.

The crash is still being investigated by the CHP, they said.  Whether or not drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash has not yet been determined.

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