Four victims identified in fatal Highway 67 crash

Update:

The county medical examiner has released the names of the four people killed in a three-vehicle crash on state Route 67 near Rockhouse Road in Ramona on Friday morning. Two other people are in critical condition at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, according to a California Highway Patrol officer investigating the accident.

A total of eight people were involved in the collision, said CHP Officer Joe Nielsen.

Alexander Antonio Sebastiano, 20, from Poway, the driver of a Chevrolet Silverado truck, and a passenger, 34-year-old Madhu Manoharan of San Diego, died at the scene, reported the medical examiner. Two elderly people in a silver Toyota Camry were pronounced dead at the scene: Josefina De Dios West, 74, and Harold Eugene West, 78. Manoharan was pronounced dead after unsuccessful attempts of resuscitation, reported the medical examiner. No city of residence has been released for De Dios West and West.

A male in his mid-30s and a female in her mid-20s who were in the extended-cab of the truck Sebastiano was driving are in critical condition, Nielsen reported. The occupants of the truck were co-workers in Poway, heading to Ramona for a non-work related issue, he said.

A woman in her early 20s, driving a blue 2008 Toyota Corolla, suffered moderate injuries with broken bones but was alert at the scene, said Nielsen. With her was the 5-year-old daughter of her boyfriend who only received a seatbelt abrasion, he said.

Nielsen said the investigation is ongoing, but it appears the truck, northbound on Route 67, was traveling around the curve too fast for the weather conditions. CHP reported the stretch of road was damp due to drizzle. Nielsen said the driver of the truck apparently lost control, overcorrected, and came sideways across the southbound lanes. The truck, he said, was hit by the silver Camry, which was traveling south in the right lane, and then struck by the blue Corolla, which was in the left lane. The accident occurred around 10 a.m.

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Sentinel photo/Karen Brainard

Update: A head-on collision on a drizzle-dampened stretch of state Route 67 killed four people today and injured three others, including a 5-year-old girl, authorities reported.

The accident occurred about 10 a.m., when a northbound Chevrolet Silverado truck veered into an oncoming lane at high speed and smashed into two southbound Toyota sedans near Rockhouse Road in the Rosemont area of Ramona, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The wreck fatally injured two men in the pickup and a married couple in one of the cars, CHP public-affairs Officer Brian Pennings said. All four died at the scene. Their names were withheld pending family notification.

A mother and her preschooler daughter in the other sedan survived the crash, as did a woman who had been riding in a back seat in the extended-cab truck, Pennings said. Medics took them to hospitals for treatment of injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

The accident forced a several-hour full closure of the route between Poway and Archie Moore roads. In the early afternoon, authorities were allowing traffic through the area over one lane.

It was unclear why the driver of the pickup lost control, though witnesses said he was speeding, according to Pennings. Additionally, the roadway was moist at the time due to misty weather, the spokesman said.

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Sentinel photo/Karen Brainard

Update: Four people are dead and three have been transported to the hospital after a three-vehicle crash on state Route 67 just south of Rockhouse Road, reports California Highway Patrol.

The accident occurred about 10 a.m. Friday.

According to CHP Officer Joe Nielsen, a pick-up truck traveling northbound on Route 67 lost control and struck southbound vehicles head-on. The truck came to rest on its side. CHP confirmed the deaths of an elderly couple and two younger adults. A 3-year-old girl with minor injuries was among those transported to the hospital, Nielsen said. No other information was available on the victims. CHP is investigating the cause of the collision.

Nielsen said he arrived shortly after the accident. “The scene was pretty chaotic,” he said.

SR67 is closed between Poway and Archie Moore roads. Highway 67 is expected to be closed until about 1 p.m., said Nielsen.