1 Person Killed, 5 Injured in 2-Car Collision

One person was killed and five injured--two critically--in a two-car accident Friday, authorities said.

Firefighters responding to the 5:51 p.m. call found one person trapped inside each car and had to use separate sets of hydraulic equipment to free them, Fire Department spokesman Brain Humphrey said. The names and ages of the victims were not immediately known, Humphrey said.

“It appears as though there was a head-on collision,” Fire Battalion Chief Mike Littleton said.

The accident occurred in a residential neighborhood on Oxnard Street, about a half-mile east of De Soto Avenue. Littleton said there was an elderly couple in one of the cars and several teenagers in the second vehicle.

Three people were critically injured in the crash and airlifted to area hospitals, Humphrey said. One of the victims died, said Officer Linda Ward of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division.

Two people were listed in critical condition with abdominal injuries Friday night at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, a nurse supervisor said.

Three others suffered lesser injuries. Two were taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills, where they were in fair condition, hospital spokeswoman Lisa Kort said.

The third was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, which declined to release information on the patient’s condition.