An
investigation was underway into a crash that left a male driver dead in
the Harbor Gateway area on July 19, 2015. (Credit: KTLA)
A driver was killed after he apparently ran a red light and hit a fuel tanker truck, setting off a chain-reaction collision that left two other drivers injured in the Harbor Gateway area of Los Angeles on Sunday, according to LAPD.
The violent three-vehicle crash occurred in the intersection of El Segundo Boulevard and Figueroa Street around 3 a.m.
The tanker carrying gasoline and another car were headed eastbound on El Segundo when a small compact car coming off of Figueroa ran a red light and slammed into the rear tank of the fuel truck, according to Sgt. Susie Padilla of the Los Angeles Police Department’s South Traffic Division.
“All indicators show that he probably was passing … the intersection on a red light,” Padilla said. “When he collided with the rear tanker of the big rig, that rear tanker collided with the other vehicle that was traveling next to him.”
Investigators believed car was speeding at the time of the crash.
The force of the collision left the “front side of the vehicle … completely crushed,” Padilla said. Video from the scene showed a large, blue tent was placed around the car in the early morning hours as police continued to investigate the cause of the crash.
The driver of the small car died at the scene. His name has not been released.
Both the driver of the tanker and the driver of the other vehicle sustained minor injuries in the crash.