4 Die In Horrific Crash As SUV Careens Off Carinquez Bridge
VALLEJO (CBS SF) -- Four people were killed Tuesday evening when the vehicle they were in careened off the Carinquez Bridge near the toll plaza, crashing onto a stationary freight train located on tracks 200 feet below the structure, authorities said.
The California Highway Patrol Officer Miguel Camarena said his agency began to get 911 calls at around 8:40 p.m. reporting that a vehicle had gone off the bridge.
"According to several callers an Infinity SUV went over a concrete wall that is part of the bridge on eastbound 80," Camarena said. "As it went over it subsequently collided with a stationary train."
Arriving officers came upon a horrific scene as they discovered the crumpled vehicle had come to rest in an industrial yard near the dented railroad car on the tracks. There were four young victims inside.
All four victims -- two men and two women -- were in their late teens or early 20s and declared dead at the scene.
Wednesday afternoon, the Contra Costa County coroner's office identified three of the four victims in the fatal crash.
Perla Navarro, 19, of Richmond, Kyle Erickson, 19, of Pittsburg, and Christopher Mata, 21, of Rodeo, were the three people identified. There was no word when the fourth victim would be identified.
No one was on the freight train at the time of the crash.
The CHP said it was investigating the crash and did not know why the driver lost control of the Infinity SUV as it traveled in the eastbound Interstate Highway 80.
"We believe the vehicle was (traveling) in the slow lane based on the way the road is curve at that location," Camarena said.
It was not immediately known if drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.
