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Brooke Walker ReportingLas Vegas police are investigating a car crash that killed four people from the ST. George area. Authorities say a Highway Patrol trooper may be at fault.
The accident happened Sunday night, just South of Las Vegas. This afternoon, police released the names of the victims. Killed were: 21-year old Victor De Lacruz-De Leon, 19-year old Jose Roberto Mejia Lang, 21-year old Remunda Lopez-Vasquez, and 42-year old Jose Manuel Sanchez Lopez.
The fifth passenger, a 16-year old, lived. She is pregnant and in critical condition today at a Las Vegas hospital. Both her husband and sister were among those killed.
The five were heading northbound on I-15 when a highway patrol car slammed into the back of their Cadillac. THe patrol car was not using lights or sirens. Both drivers lost control, flew off the road and landed in a ditch.
The state trooper was flown to the hospital in serious condition. Three passengers in the Cadillac were thrown from the car. Four of the five occupants died on scene.
Those four individuals worked for a St. George home building company. Today co-workers and friends say they are shock.
Vicento Sanchez, Friend of Victims: "I feel terrible because they were co-workers. It's a horrible feeling; they were great friends. "
Tyler Whitehead, Worked with Victims: "It's hard for me because I can imagine how it would be if I heard my sons or daughters, or whoever it was, was in an accident and was dead."
The victims are all from Mexico and moved to Utah within the last two years.
Because the crash involved a state trooper, Las Vegas police have taken over the investigation. They are still trying to figure out a cause.
