Community Corner

UPDATE: 5 Teens Killed in Crash on Jamboree

An Infiniti slammed into a tree, split in half and caught fire in Newport Beach on Monday evening. The victims were all from Irvine.

Editor's note: This story was originally published on Monday, May 27 at 7:05 p.m.

Five teens were killed Monday evening when a car hit a tree, split in half and caught fire in Newport Beach, officials said.

The single-vehicle crash was reported at 5:22 p.m. on Jamboree Road near Island Lagoon Drive. Police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe said the car, described as an Infiniti, veered off the road and hit a tree in the center divider.  Lowe said speed was a factor in the crash.

"Upon impact, the car split in half and one half caught on fire," Lowe said. "The preliminary investigation indicates the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of the collision. However determining the exact speed of the vehicle will be part of our investigation."

According to Lowe, four people were ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene. A fifth teen was partially ejected, taken to a local trauma center and later pronounced dead.

"It's a very tragic accident," Lowe said.

The victims -- three girls and two boys -- were from Irvine, Orange County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Gail Krause said Tuesday. Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department said all victims have been identified, except for one who was badly burned. Authorities were using fingerprint records to try and identify the victim.

The ages and names will probably be released later Tuesday once all the identities have been confirmed, Krause said.

Jamboree reopened early Tuesday following a closure of more than 10 hours.

-City News Service contributed to this report.








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