Pic and videos at the link, video of the crash.
Six people including an infant, a pregnant woman and her unborn child have been killed in Los Angeles after a car ran a red light and smashed into oncoming traffic.
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Horrific moment LA driver speeds through red light and slams into five cars
Harriet Alexander
8-10 minutes
This is the horrific moment a Los Angeles driver speeds through a red light before slamming into five cars at an intersection, killing six, including an infant and a pregnant woman.
The black Mercedes races past a gas station then smashes into the side of a traffic jam, causing a flaming inferno in the Windsor Hills district. It sends the vehicles screeching across the street before finally coming to a stop in a mangled wreck just feet away from rows of highly flammable pumps.
The gut-wrenching pile up, between South La Brea Avenue and Slauson Avenue, killed the pregnant woman, her unborn child and the three-year-old.
Meanwhile, seven people have been left fighting for their lives with horrendous injuries following the devastating smash at 1:40 p.m.
Moment car BURSTS into flames after colliding at LA intersection
Graphic shows the direction the SUV was going in along South La Brea Avenue when it ran the red light and caused the horrendous crash
The shocking footage, taken from a gas station overlooking the scene, starts as the Mercedes coupe races past the pumps at blistering pace.
The doomed vehicle fails to break as it bears down on the traffic flowing both ways across the packed intersection.
It slams into the first car, which immediately bursts into a sickening fireball before plowing through several others that spin from the huge impact. The crash sends them all hurtling towards another gas station across the intersection before finally coming to a stop in a crumpled mess.
The pile up came to a stop just before the second gas station over the road, which is considered an architectural icon.
Social media images showed the battered vehicles left without wheels and roofs following the brutal impact
Social media images showed the battered vehicles left without wheels and roofs following the brutal impact. Other cars were left burnt out after firefighters doused the huge flames caused by the crash.
And one of them appeared to have been flipped on to its roof and came to a sudden halt under the sign for the gas station. One shocked witness told
NBC 4: 'Those two right there exploded, just fire everywhere.'
Another, Harper Washington, told
ABC 7: 'It looked like the whole intersection from corner to corner was on fire. A lot of sparks and electricity.
'I was under the impression that, really at first I thought they dropped a bomb on us. I thought another world war had started. Then I realized it was a car into the sign.
'Once the fire went away and the booming left, I realized it was two cars there. They said: 'You could see the people on fire and that's just sad. I really pray for the people and the community.'
The gas station on the corner of South La Brea and Slauson was the scene of Thursday's accident
Debra Jackson, who was filling her car with gas, told CBSLA: 'All of a sudden, I heard a big explosion and flames went over my whole car. I though my car was on fire.'
And Veronica Esquivel added: 'I was about to pump gas and all of a sudden, I hear all of the noises from all of the collisions, and then the fire explosion and I saw things, metal and things flying in the air. So, I just covered myself behind the pump.'
The victims, who have not yet been named, included four adults, one of whom was pregnant. An infant was also killed.
Eight of the nine injured were sent to area hospitals and six of the nine are children and teens. The driver of the Mercedes is believed to be one of the people sent to the hospital with major injuries.
California Highway Patrol said after the incident the scene 'almost looks like a war zone' with car parts scattered across the street.
www.yourcentralvalley.com
