FRESNO, Calif. – A stolen car fleeing from police ran a stop sign and plowed into a pickup, killing four young children in the truck along with all three people in the car, the California Highway Patrol said.
The truck, a 1997 GMC pickup, was carrying two adults and their five children.
There were no child restraint systems in the way of car seats in the pickup truck, CHP Officer Felipe Martinez told FOX News on Sunday.
The four children who were ejected and died at the scene were identified as 7 year-old Jocelyn Grace Salazar; 4-year-old Monique Janae Salazar; 3-year-old Michael Alexander Salazar; and 1-year-old Sienna Rose Salazar, Martinez said.
The status of a fifth child in the truck, 8-year-old Carlos Eric Salazar, is still unknown.
He was taken to the hospital and was being treated along with 29-year-old Carlos Salazar Jr. and 26-year-old Jennifer Salazar of Orange Cove.
Police in Dinuba, southeast of Fresno, were trying to stop the car Saturday afternoon for a traffic infraction, according to the highway patrol.
All three men in the car being chased, which Martinez said was a stolen vehicle, were killed. Their identities and ages weren't immediately released.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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