Days after four people died in a fiery accident on Highway 152
west of the Don Pacheco Y Tuesday morning law enforcement officials
are still trying to determine their identities.
Hollister – Days after four people died in a fiery accident on Highway 152 west of the Don Pacheco Y Tuesday morning law enforcement officials are still trying to determine their identities.
California Highway Patrol officers are searching for anyone who can provide information on the four people who died after their Toyota 4-Runner was struck head-on at 9:20am by a delivery truck and tumbled down a hill where it burst into flames with the occupants trapped in side.
The driver of the delivery truck, 24-year-old Christopher Yu, suffered moderate injuries and was flown by Stanford Life Flight to San Jose Regional Medical Center, according to CHP Officer Chris Armstrong. Yu was treated and released Tuesday.
The accident closed both lanes of Highway 152 for more than eight hours, and motorists were diverted onto Highway 156 at the Don Pacheco Y.
While police had little information to provide on the specifics of the crash Tuesday, Armstrong said the bobtail delivery truck was heading westbound on Highway 152 between Dunn Lane and the Don Pacheco Y in southeastern Santa Clara County, when for an unknown reason Yu veered into the eastbound lane. Yu collided with a 2005 Freightliner big rig driven by Raul Olmos, and while Olmos was uninjured his truck sustained moderate damage.
“I don’t know why he lost control, but when I saw him come to me I thought he would hit me in the front,” said Olmos, a driver for USFilter Transportation, Inc. in Milpitas. “The first thing that came to mind is try to escape to the right. When I look back, all I see is a bunch of fire.”
After colliding with Olmos’ truck, Yu continued to travel in the eastbound lane and hit the Toyota SUV head-on, causing both vehicles to burst into flame and sending them down a hill on the south side of the highway, Armstrong said. The four occupants in the Toyota were trapped inside the twisted, fiery wreckage and died, he said. The exact cause of death was unknown at presstime.
