Three people killed in a crash on Interstate 10 in Coachella this week were identified Thursday, April 16, by the Riverside County coroner. The California Highway Patrol said the crash happened after a 71-year-old man driving the wrong way on the freeway slammed his Toyota Camry head-on into a Honda Accord.
The three people killed were the Honda driver and her passenger — Lizeth Duran Martinez and Meliton Perez Dominguez, respectively, both 39-year-old Phoenix residents — and the Toyota driver, 71-year-old Guillermo Ocampo Bahena of Orange.
The crash happened at 10 p.m. Tuesday on eastbound I-10 near Dillon Road, according to the CHP.
CHP officials said Bahena was at the wheel of a Toyota Camry that entered the eastbound lanes of the freeway going westbound.
“The reason why the Toyota was driving the wrong way is still under investigation,” the CHP said.
While traveling at an unconfirmed speed in the fast lane, Bahena’s Toyota slammed head-on into a Honda Accord, according to investigators. No other vehicles were involved.
Riverside County Fire Department personnel reached the location a short time later and extricated the two occupants of the Honda, Dominguez and Martinez, as well as Bahena in the Toyota. All three were pronounced dead at the scene.
“Alcohol or drugs are not suspected to be factors in the crash,” the CHP stated. An autopsy was pending on Bahena on Thursday.
CHP asked anyone with information to contact its Indio office at 760-772-5300.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 3 victims identified in wrong-way crash on I-10 in Coachella
Reporting by City News Service / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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