A fiery multi-car crash left five dead, including a pregnant woman and an infant, in Los Angeles’ Windsor Hills neighborhood Thursday, according to authorities. Eight people were also injured in the crash at La Brea and Slauson avenues. The L.A. County Fire Department responded to the crash just after 1:40 p.m. Officer Franco Pepi, a California Highway Patrol spokesperson, said Thursday afternoon that three adults, including a pregnant woman, and an infant were killed in the crash. Authorities later found another person’s remains inside one of the burned vehicles, he said. That person’s gender or age weren’t known Thursday night. The pregnant woman also lost her unborn child, which the CHP was counting as an additional fatality “due to rare circumstances,” Pepi said.
https://www.latimes.com/california/stor ... nant-womanSurveillance video of the crash shows a Mercedes-Benz barreling down La Brea at high speed as dozens of cars cross the intersection on Slauson. The Mercedes runs a red light and slams into cars in the intersection, then bursts into flames and hurtles into a light pole, where it comes to rest. After the crash, a streak of fire burns on the ground. Smoke could be seen billowing from miles away.
A woman who did not want to be named told The Times a Mercedes-Benz hit her car as she was leaving a United Oil gas station. “I was getting out, had got gas,” she said. “All of a sudden that Mercedes is coming at me on ... fire. I didn’t have any time to think about it. It hit my car. I veered, hit the bench on the side.” The crash caused her to fear a gasoline-fueled explosion, she told The Times. Nearby, the wrecked Mercedes-Benz with a smashed hood had crashed into a curb. Investigators believe the driver of the Mercedes-Benz was responsible for the crash, Pepi said.
One cop said it looked like a war scene, "evil" cars.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62431231Four people have been critically injured after being struck by lightning near the White House. The two men and two women were in Lafayette Park in Washington DC during a violent storm when they were struck down, fire officials said. Because of the park's closeness to the seat of the US presidency, members of the Secret Service were among the first people to assist the victims. The identities of those injured have not yet been confirmed.
The lightning struck the four people near a tree by the fence that surrounds the White House complex on Thursday evening. "All four were suffering from critical, life-threatening injuries," said DC Fire and EMS in a statement. "We were able to quickly treat and transport all four patients and they were all taken to area hospitals." Officials have yet to establish whether they knew each other and what they were doing before the lightning strike.
In the wake of the incident, part of the park remained closed, with emergency services at the scene. The National Weather Service had issued a thunderstorm warning for the area on Thursday evening. Lafayette Square is a seven-acre public park directly north of the White House. It is often crowded with visitors, especially during the summer.