LOS ANGELES – A crash on the 5 Freeway claimed the lives of three people in Boyle Heights early Sunday morning.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the collision occurred just after 2:45 a.m. on the northbound on and off-ramps of the 5 at Calzona Street and involved a single black SUV.
The car appeared to have slammed into a wall on the ramp and caught fire near a home adjacent to the freeway entrance. It was facing the wrong direction on the on-ramp, authorities said.
Los Angeles Fire Department crews arrived and extinguished the flames before they spread to the home and nearby trees.
Three people were pronounced dead at the scene, a CHP official confirmed to KTLA 5’s Erin Myers.
No information on their identities was immediately released.
A SigAlert was issued for the Calzona Street off-ramp at 3:15 a.m. Sunday and is expected to last at least three hours.
The initial cause of the crash remains under investigation.