Two women die, five hurt in I-15 crash near state line

Thursday, June 9, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.

Two women were killed and five other people, including two small children, were injured in a rollover on Interstate 15 near the Nevada-California state line Tuesday.

The California Highway Patrol said the crash occurred shortly before 4:30 p.m. in the southbound lanes, south of Yates Well Road near the Primm Valley golf course, when a van carrying seven people rolled into the northbound lanes after veering into the dirt center divider, officers said.

They identified the dead as the driver of the 2002 Toyota Sienna, Leticia De Mesa, 58, of Palmdale, Calif., and passenger Aberin Burificacion, 77, of Helmebba, N.J.

Zenaida Ahmed, 49, of Lancaster, Pa., and a 5-year-old girl, also of Lancaster, suffered what Highway Patrol investigators termed major injuries and were taken to University Medical Center.

Others taken to UMC were Henry Alido Dee, 58, of Palmdale, the only man in the vehicle; Agnes Castillo, 52, of Helmebba and an 11-year-old from Lancaster, who all suffered what troopers classified as minor injuries and cuts.

Ahmed was in fair condition Wednesday afternoon. Dee and Castillo were treated and released. Because of federal privacy laws, the hospital said it could not release condition reports regarding the two children.

California Highway Patrol investigators said the vehicle hit the center divider, turned back to the right, then to the left and rolled over the center divider and into the northbound lanes, ejecting three passengers and partially ejecting the driver.

Burificacion was killed when the vehicle landed on her after ejecting her, officers said.

The 5-year-old girl was ejected because of "improper use of the passenger restraint system," the Highway Patrol report said, noting that the child was not in a booster seat.

Investigators determined that the shoulder restraining strap of the seat belt was positioned behind the child instead of across her chest. The small child had apparently slipped free from the lap portion of the seat belt during the wreck, the Highway Patrol said.

Charges were not immediately filed, and the incident remains under investigation, troopers said.

The Highway Patrol said the preliminary determination is that neither alcohol nor drugs were factors in the wreck.