One teenage girl is in critical condition and two others are in serious condition after they were struck by a car while walking to school in North Hollywood on Wednesday, authorities said.
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The 14-year-old girls - identified by classmates and school security as students of nearby Oakwood School - were transported to local hospitals.Sources tell NBC4 that the girl that is in critical condition has major head trauma and is connected to a ventilator.
The collision happened about 1:30 p.m. on Magnolia Boulevard at the 170 Freeway off-ramp as the girls were walking in a crosswalk, the California Highway Patrol said.
A witness said a black Toyota Prius ran a red light and struck the girls, as well as the witness’s car.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I see this car coming after he hit a bunch of girls," said the witness, Eddie Ravelo of El Monte. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} "After that he came straight at me and I just lost sight because of the air bar. He hit me and I spun, just lost control."
The girls were returning to the campus after finishing a physical education class at nearby Magnolia Park on the other side of the freeway.
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The 48-year-old driver of the Prius was taken to the hospital and was cooperating. He told CHP investigators that his brakes failed.
Investigators said they will anaylze the car's black box in order to determine exactly what was happening in the car before the crash.
NBC4's Kelly Goff and Samia Khan contributed to this report.
