1 Killed, 2 In Critical Condition After 5 Vehicles Collide In Inglewood

INGLEWOOD (CBSLA) — A fiery multi-car crash in Inglewood left one person dead and two people in critical condition Monday.

Security video released Monday night shows the driver of a truck attempting to make a left hand turn when an oncoming driver slams into that vehicle. One of the two vehicles immediately caught fire before colliding into three other vehicles that were waiting at a stop light.

"I mean, it's terrible," Erika Jimenez, who heard the crash, said. "When you saw this car in flames, it doesn't really add up."

Jimenez is a teacher at Saint Mary's Academy. She was in her classroom, but heard the crash that happened at about 4:40 p.m. in the 500 block of East Florence Avenue.

"It was a very loud boom, and the whole half of the truck was completely melted," Jimenez said. "It was pretty gone, and there was lots of flames, a lot of black smoke. The whole school smelled."

The aftermath was a multi-car pileup that closed all lanes of the normally busy road for hours as detectives investigated.

It was confirmed that one driver died, but it was not immediately known which vehicle they were driving.

"You never know if you could come back home," Martha Barrientos, who heard the crash, said. "You never know. It's dangerous."