translated from Spanish: Seven minors and two adult drivers died after a head-on collision in California

Investigators are asking for people’s help in determining the reasons for a head-on collision between two vehicles in central California that killed seven children and two adults on New Year’s Day. The driver of one of the cars was identified as Daniel Luna, a resident of Avenal.La California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported that everyone who gave data on Friday’s accident on State Country Route 33 arrived at the site after the collision. The CHP hopes to speak to witnesses who saw what happened in the seconds before the SUV van and van collided between the cities of Avenal and Coalinga.The minors, who were between 6 and 15 years old, were members of two related families traveling in a Ford F-150 van when it was hit by a Dodge Journey SUV at approximately 8 p.m. on Friday Fresno County Coroner’s office and the CHP reported. The Dodge SUV was driven by Luna, 28, the sole occupant of the vehicle. Evidence obtained at the site showed that Luna’s Dodge was going south on the road when for unknown reasons it entered the earth’s ditch, the CHP reported. The driver then tried to correct and turned to the lane in the opposite direction, where he collided head-on with the Ford van driven by a woman, authorities said. The Ford van burst into flames over the ground ditch, while the Dodge SUV ended up encompassing the two lanes of the road, the CHP reported.” When the fire was extinguished, it was tragically discovered that there were eight occupants, seven of whom appeared to be minors, within the Ford,” CHP Captain Kevin Clays said at a press conference Saturday afternoon. “We are working with the Fresno County coroner’s office to identify the occupants.” It is not known whether alcohol or drugs were a factor. Investigators will try to determine how fast both vehicles were going at the time of the accident, the Fresno Bee newspaper reported.The weather or other road conditions did not appear to be a crash factor, authorities said.

Original source in Spanish