5 Teens Die in Fiery Crash on I-5 -- Updated

[&l

Originally posted at 8:52 a.m. Oct. 4, 2014. Edited with new details.

Three teenaged boys and two teenaged girls were killed when a BMW driven by a 16-year-old boy flew off the Santa Ana (5) Freeway and caught fire at 2:45 a.m. today.

“They were burned beyond recognition,” said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi.

The 16-year-old boy was rushed to Mission Hospital in serious condition, and he reportedly told rescuers the group was returning from a late-night trip to at Knott’s Berry Farm.

The vehicle also ignited a small brush fire in the interchange between the 5 Freeway and the Route 133 Toll Road. The quarter-acre brush fire was put out within 30 minutes, Concialdi said.

The crash occurred at 2:12 a.m. a CHP dispatcher said.

Video from the scene showed an older BMW, burned, perched atop a retaining wall but beneath the freeway. A crane was used to lift it from its blackened perch.

Nine hours after the crash, three lanes of southbound Interstate 5 and its transition road to north 133 remained closed, as investigators worked.

--City News Service

PHOTO Courtesy of the Orange County Fire Authority

COMMENT ON THIS STORY BY SCROLLING TO FIND THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW.

Wondering how our new commenting platform, Disqus, works? Learn more about it here and start interacting with your neighbors on Patch.