4 Die When Car Plunges Into Canal
WESTMORLAND, Calif. — A family of four, including two children and a woman believed pregnant, were found dead in a car that apparently ran off the roadway and landed upside down in an irrigation canal, Imperial County authorities said Tuesday.
The discovery was similar to a Dec. 19 accident in nearby El Centro in which five local teen-agers drowned when their car plunged into a canal.
“We had a Mustang coming east on Walker Road, and for some unknown reason, it ran off the road, went across the canal, fell into the canal and rolled over on its top,” Lt. Doug McMurray of the California Highway Patrol said Tuesday.
The coroner’s office identified the dead as Arturo Lopez, 23, of Calipatria; his wife, Adriana, 29, and their two children, Graciela, 4, and Arturo Jr., 2.
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