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Crime & Safety

Fourth Passenger in Sunday's 134 Freeway Crash Dies (UPDATE)

The adult, 55, was hospitalized along with two other passengers; eastbound stretch of freeway partially closed at Figueroa Street until 2 a.m.

A fourth victim died Monday after a vehicle that may have experienced a blowout went over the side of the Ventura (134) Freeway in Eagle Rock and plunged onto the street below, authorities said.

The latest fatality was an adult hospitalized after the crash, which occurred around 6:55 p.m. Sunday on the eastbound 134 at Figueroa Street, said coroner's Lt. Joe Bale.

Three people—a man, a woman and a girl—were pronounced dead at the scene, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said, and a 55-year-old man, a 36-year-old woman and a six-year-old girl were taken to hospitals.

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The accident victims were all in the same vehicle, possibly a minivan, Humphrey said. The vehicle ended up on Figueroa Street, some 75-100 feet below the freeway.

CBS2/KCAL9 reported Sunday night that beer cans were found near the crashed vehicle, and that alcohol might have been a factor in the accident.

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The California Highway Patrol investigation took much of the night and kept all or part of the eastbound Ventura Freeway closed for hours at Figueroa Street, according to the CHP. Two lanes were reopened at 9:20 p.m. Sunday, but the others were closed until just before 2 a.m. Monday.

A blown tire is a possible cause of the crash, CHP Officer Adam Eggleston said.

"A witness observed possible tire debris," he said. ''The vehicle lost control, began to flip, rotated approximately three times and a child was ejected."

Witness Andrew Gutierrez told ABC7 it was surreal to see the vehicle fly 75 to 100 feet off the freeway, and he tried to help the people inside.

"It's like a movie—it's like a dream, you know. You just turn around, there's dead people. You feel for them 'cause you don't know them."

Related:

In April 2012, an allegedly drunk driver of a sedan rear-ended a gas tanker truck, causing an inferno on the westbound 134 freeway, near the Los Angeles River: Driver in Tanker Truck Inferno Cited, Released [Video].

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