There was no sign that three young women would meet a grisly end as they boarded an Uber vehicle with another passenger.
While the three young women were parked in their Uber driver’s Honda sedan at an intersection in the Westmont neighborhood of Los Angeles, a Mercedes-Benz rammed the vehicle at high speed, according to information gathered by the California Highway Patrol on Fox News.
A witness reports that the Mercedes was traveling at more than 130 km/h, perhaps to avoid a red light, before colliding head-on with the Honda.
The impact caused the Uber car to skid across the intersection. The three young women in the back seat were killed instantly. According to Fox News, one of them was even ejected.
A witness at the scene came to their aid. “I started shaking them, talking to them and trying to wake them up, but they weren’t responding or breathing,” Victor Gonzalez told local broadcaster KTLA.
The 38-year-old Uber driver was seriously injured in the accident. Your condition is critical. The fourth passenger, a young man who was in the front of the vehicle, was seriously injured but is in stable condition, according to Fox 11 Los Angeles.
The three victims were identified by the Los Angeles coroner as Juvelyn Arroyo and Veronica Amezola, both 23, and Kimberly Izquierdo, 27.
The driver of the Mercedes-Benz was taken to the hospital. There was only one person in the vehicle that caused the accident.
The 31-year-old driver is charged with manslaughter, Los Angeles Police Department reported on X.
“He passed vehicles stopped at red lights, walked around them and punched the victims,” Los Angeles Police Inspector Ryan Moreno said. He drove at least 137 km/h, even 144 km/h,” adds the police officer.
“It’s just frustrating,” said Sergeant Clarence Perkins.