Crash on Freeway Kills 2 From Anaheim; 9 Hurt

A man and woman from Anaheim were killed and nine other people were injured when a car plowed into a stalled pickup truck on the Golden State Freeway near Glendale early Sunday, the California Highway Patrol said.

Investigators said most of the victims, including three children, were riding in the southbound pickup with a camper shell that had stalled in the slow lane near the Ventura Freeway at 12:14 a.m.

Pronounced dead at the accident scene was Ramiro Rosas, 24, of Anaheim, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. Another truck passenger, Perla Ibanez, 27, also of Anaheim, died later at Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center, the coroner’s office said.

An unidentified 32-year-old man was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena in critical condition, and a 30-year-old woman, also in critical condition, was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, said Bob Collis, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Fire Department.

A 5-year-old boy was taken by helicopter to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where he too was listed in critical condition, Collis said.

A CHP dispatcher said two other children--a 2-year-old girl and a 7-month-old boy--were taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena with serious injuries.

Four other victims--two 30-year-old men, a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman--were treated at local hospitals for minor injuries, he said.

Fire officials said the stalled vehicle carried most of its passengers in the truck bed.

As fire crews treated the most seriously injured crash victims, others sobbed and prayed on the pavement nearby, according to witnesses.

The accident remained under investigation late Sunday as investigators tried to determine the identities of the drivers of the two vehicles.