Newport Beach, CA – Orange County authorities are still investigating a single-car crash from Memorial Day that killed five Irvine teens.
Investigators assessed the Nissan Infiniti had been heading south on Jamboree Road in the direction of Pacific Coast Highway when it veered off the road and into the center divider, struck a tree, ripped apart, and burst into flames .
Rescuers were dispatched around 5:20 pm after an initial report of a multiple-vehicle crash, but, when they arrived on the scene, fire and rescue found a bifurcated, mangled heap.
Four people were ejected and another passenger was partially ejected from the vehicle, police said. Four of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene; the other was taken to a Mission Viejo hospital but could not be resuscitated.
Fingerprints were used to identify the three girls and two boys who died in the devastating crash.
The driver was identified as 17-year-old Abdulrahman Alyahyan, a senior at University High School. He was known to tinker on his car for hours and played soccer.
The passengers included 17-year-old Robin Cabrera, a senior at Irvine High School, and her 16-year-old sister Aurora, a sophomore at the same school.
The siblings had had performed in a three-day dance recital over Memorial Day weekend. The Cabrera sisters were their parents’ only two children.
Cecilia Zamora, also in the dance program, and Nozad Al Hamawendi, who had been on the wrestling team, both 17-year-old juniors at Irvine High School were also killed.
No other vehicles were involved in the accident. Police say speed was a factor . The posted speed limit on Jamboree Road, a major, six-lane street in south Orange County, is 55 mph.
No classes were held at the high schools on Tuesday because of a teacher development day, but students gathered at Irvine High to console one another and remember their classmates.
[Image via Shutterstock ]
