Fiery wrong-way crash on 73 Freeway kills 1 driver, injures another

One motorist was killed and another hospitalized Sunday after a fiery wrong-way vehicle crash on the Corona Del Mar (73) Freeway in Newport Beach closed all southbound lanes for several hours, the California Highway Patrol confirmed Monday.

CHP spokesman Officer Sergio Rivera said officers were dispatched to the area at 9:26 p.m., regarding an SUV seen traveling northbound in southbound lanes just north of MacArthur Boulevard.

Minutes later, calls confirmed a head-on collision had occurred in the same area where the driver had first been seen. Initial reports indicate a Land Rover struck a BMW sedan, believed to have been in the fast lane at the time of the incident, rolled over and erupted into flames.

The driver of the SUV was killed in the crash, although it is unclear from CHP reports whether the individual died inside the vehicle or may have been thrown or extricated from the wreckage. Coroner’s officials on Monday had not yet released the identity of the decedent, according to a sheriff’s spokesman.

The driver of the BMW, whose identity was not being released to the public, was treated on scene by firefighters and transported to a local hospital with moderate to major injuries, Rivera said Monday. Neither vehicle is believed to have contained any other occupants at the time of the crash.

Officers at the scene closed southbound lanes of the 73 Freeway to accommodate the investigation and arrival of coroner’s officials. Traffic was temporarily diverted off the freeway at Campus Drive, and all lanes were reopened by 2:30 a.m. Monday, Rivera said.