Tragedy on Highway 73:
One motorist was killed and another hospitalized on Sunday after a fiery head-on collision on the Corona Del Mar (73) Freeway in Newport Beach, which closed all southbound lanes for several hours, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) confirmed on Monday.
CHP spokesman Officer Sergio Rivera reported that officers were dispatched to the area at 9:26 p.m., after receiving reports of an SUV traveling northbound in the southbound lanes just north of MacArthur Boulevard.
Minutes later, calls confirmed a head-on collision had occurred in the same area where the driver was first spotted. Initial reports indicated that a Land Rover collided with a BMW sedan, believed to have been in the fast lane at the time of the incident. The SUV rolled over and erupted into flames.
The driver of the SUV was killed in the crash, though CHP reports did not clarify whether the individual died inside the vehicle or was ejected or extricated from the wreckage. By Wednesday, coroner’s officials had not yet identified the deceased, but it was determined that the driver was a woman, according to a sheriff’s spokesman.
The BMW driver, whose identity was not released, was treated at the scene by firefighters and transported to a local hospital with moderate to major injuries, Rivera said. Neither vehicle was believed to have had additional occupants at the time of the crash.
Officers at the scene closed all southbound lanes of the 73 Freeway to accommodate the investigation and the arrival of coroner’s officials. Traffic was temporarily diverted off the freeway at Campus Drive, and all lanes were reopened by 2:30 a.m. Monday.
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