2nd Boy Dies A Day After Deadly Port Of Los Angeles Crash
SAN PEDRO (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say a second boy who was gravely injured Thursday after a vehicle plunged into the Port of Los Angeles has died.
The Los Angeles Police Department says the 8-year-old boy died about 2 p.m. Friday. The crash also claimed the life of the boy's 13-year-old brother, who died at a hospital Thursday.
On Friday night, the boys' father Ali Elmezayen of Watts shared his anger and disbelief.
Elmezayen explained how he suddenly drove his wife and two sons off Berth 73 and into the water Thursday evening.
"I'm so upset. I'm so mad. I don't believe it. I miss my kids. I don't believe that this happened," said Elmezayen, who explained that his family had just left a restaurant at the Ports O' Call entertainment area when they decided to drive around and take photographs.
That's when he says he accidentally drove the Honda over a wooden beam and landed upside down in murky water.
Both Elmezayen and his wife were able to escape the car as it sank 30-feet but his sons were still strapped inside the car.
A witness called 911.
Several minutes later, rescue-divers pulled both boys to the surface, both of whom have died.
"I save my wife, I try go save my kids, but the car go too deep already. I cannot make and the police stop me," Elmezayen said.
But witnesses tell a different story.
Witnesses claim they heard Elmezayen fighting with his wife before the deadly plunge and that the man clung to a ladder in the water as the car sank.
"He wasn't really doing nothing. He was just talking, you know. Not crying. Not doing nothing," Ray Prince, a witness, said.
But Elmezayen disputes accounts that he was fighting with his wife. Instead, he says the family had gone out to celebrate the purchase of a new home.
"Never! I have love for my wife. We never fight," he said.
Police said drugs or alcohol were not factors in causing the collision and homicide detectives have now handed the investigation over to the Traffic Division.
Elmezayen says he blames the lack of fencing and warning signs in the area for what happened and wants major changes.
"High gate, strong one. For safety. That's it. Because I don't want this to happen again to anyone," he said.
Elmezayen says he plans to hire an attorney and pursue legal action.
