Seal Beach : Driver Dies After Car Catches Fire on Freeway
A motorist died Friday when his car caught fire and plunged down a 25-foot embankment on the transition road from the San Diego Freeway to the 605 Freeway in Seal Beach, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.
The Orange County coroner’s office identified the victim as Tran Khanh, 29, of Stanton. He was alone in the car, officials said.
Freeway traffic was backed up for about three miles on the northbound San Diego Freeway as a result of Orange County Fire Department and Highway Patrol officers closing the transition road after the 12:35 p.m. accident, CHP spokesman Kevin Dougherty said.
According to witnesses, smoke and flames could be seen inside the car as it entered the northbound transition road, Dougherty said. “He swerved back and forth and pulled to the right shoulder and went over a 25-foot embankment into a drainage ditch (where the car) became completely engulfed” in flames.
By the time firefighters and police had reached the scene, the driver was dead, Dougherty said.
There is no indication what caused the blaze, though “the Fire Department believes the fire started in the engine compartment,” Dougherty said.
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