Father, 6-Year-Old Daughter Killed After Collision With Truck On 405 Freeway
VAN NUYS (CBSLA.com) — Two people -- including a 6-year-old girl -- were killed in a two-vehicle crash on the 405 Sunday in the West Valley area.
Traffic came to a standstill for hours as all northbound lanes of the 405 freeway were shut down at Sherman Way due to the fatal accident involving a big rig on Sunday.
The big rig was involved in a collision with a white Ford Explorer shortly before 12:45 p.m., according to LAFD officials.
In all, there were seven injuries reported at the scene, including the two fatalities, according to LAFD.
The other fatality, the driver of a 1992 Ford Explorer in which the 6-year-old was also killed, was a 37-year-old male. Officials described the deceased as a father and daughter. The father died at the scene. The girl was pronounced dead at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.
City News Service identified the deceased at father as Efrain Sifuentes Hurtado of Van Nuys. They identified the daughter as Luz Yanet Sifuentes.
The LAFD said the Ford Explorer entered the 405 at Sherman Way headed north. A driver in a 2004 Hino box truck (with two passengers) was in lane 2 also headed north. All three were injured and hospitalized in fair condition, the LAFD said.
Injuries to three others in the Explorer (a mother and two young children) range from fair to grave.
Witnesses say the Explorer (with a family of two adults and three children aboard) swerved into the truck's path. An official report of the crash said the Explorer "failed to follow the curvature of the on-ramp and traversed a large dirt median before entering the northbound lanes perpendicular to the flow of traffic."
The number one and two lanes were the first to be shut down, before all lanes were halted.
Traffic had backed up well past the 101 Freeway connector, and into the Sepulveda Pass by 2 p.m.
One lane was opened shortly after 3:30 p.m., and the freeway was completely reopened at 5:30 p.m.
For traffic conditions, listen to KNX 1070 Newsradio and visit the CBSLA Traffic Page.