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5 teens killed in fiery crash on 5 Freeway in Irvine

October 4, 2014

IRVINE (CNS) – Three teenaged boys and two teenaged girls were killed when a BMW driven by a 16-year-old boy flew off the Santa Ana (5) Freeway and caught fire at 2:45 a.m. Saturday.

“They were burned beyond recognition,” said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi.

The 16-year-old boy was rushed to Mission Hospital in serious condition, and he reportedly told rescuers the group was returning from a late-night trip to at Knott’s Berry Farm.

The vehicle also ignited a small brush fire in the interchange between the 5 Freeway and the Route 133 Toll Road. The quarter-acre brush fire was put out within 30 minutes, Concialdi said.

The crash occurred at 2:12 a.m. a CHP dispatcher said.

Video from the scene showed an older BMW, burned, perched atop a retaining wall but beneath the freeway. A crane was used to lift it from its blackened perch.

Nine hours after the crash, three lanes of southbound Interstate 5 and its transition road to north 133 remained closed, as investigators worked.

-KTLA report

-OC Register report