Crash on Santiago Canyon Road Kills 2

Two people were killed and at least four others injured in a head-on collision Sunday night along a deserted stretch of Santiago Canyon Road near Silverado Canyon, southeast of Irvine Lake, authorities said.

Details of the crash were incomplete Sunday night, but a California Highway Patrol dispatcher said two people died at the scene and at least four people were ejected from vehicles involved in the crash.

At least two vehicles, and possibly more, were involved, said the CHP dispatcher, who declined to be identified.

The accident occurred at about 7:20 p.m. on the southbound side of Santiago Canyon Road, about a half-mile north of Silverado Canyon Road. The road was closed to traffic, and at 10 p.m., CHP officers were still urging motorists to use alternate routes.

Santiago Canyon Road has been a source of concern for CHP officers during the last few years. CHP officers last year began to use radar to improve safety along a hazardous nine-mile stretch of Santiago Canyon Road from Cooks Corner to the Orange city limits.

A CHP survey has indicated that 79% of the drivers on that route exceed the 55 m.p.h. speed limit.

In 1991, 13 people died in high-speed crashes along the road. Five died the previous year.