PALMDALE (CNS) - One person was killed and another was critically injured when the BMW they were in burst into flames after being rear-ended in Palmdale, authorities said today.
The three-vehicle collision was reported at 10:35 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Rancho Vista Boulevard and 25th Street West, said Lt. Anthony Gunn of the Sheriff's Palmdale Station.
A 35-year-old man driving a 2016 Chevy Cruze west on Rancho Vista Boulevard rear-ended a 1986 BMW, which was stopped behind several vehicles at a red light, Gunn said. The collision caused the BMW to lunge forward, rear-end a 2017 Buick Enclave driven by a 27-year-old man who was with his family, and then burst into flames, authorities said.
The crash left the BMW's driver and his passenger trapped. A man who was a passenger in the Enclave rescued the driver of the BMW but his passenger burned to death in the car, Gunn said.
The BMW's driver was taken to a hospital with critical burn injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
No one else was seriously hurt, authorities said.
Alcohol was not a factor in the crash and no arrests were made, but the investigation is ongoing, Gunn said.