Accident Victims Aged

A 71-year-old man died Friday after his car veered from the Santa Ana Freeway and struck a metal guard rail, California Highway Patrol officers said. Lawrence Flores of Irvine was driving south on the Santa Ana Freeway near the Costa Mesa Freeway about 10:15 a.m. when he swerved across the road over a 60-feet dirt embankment and slammed into a guard rail, a CHP spokeswoman said. Flores was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where he died.

Indictments were delivered in the deaths of four nursing home residents who were mistakenly given nitrogen instead of oxygen. Greene County Prosecutor William Schenck said involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide charges were brought against two defendants but said he would not identify them until Monday. Six other residents of the Carriage-by-the-Lake nursing home in Bellbrook became ill Dec.

A 91-year-old woman pushing a shopping cart on the Santa Monica Freeway was killed early Thursday when she was struck by at least three cars, authorities said. The woman, Flora Mariez, was first hit at 1:35 a.m. by a 36-year-old Covina driver, who was traveling west at 60 mph, east of the Harbor Freeway near downtown. The driver did not see the woman, who was walking against traffic in the third lane over from the center divider. Mariez died at the scene.

An 82-year-old man was struck and killed Wednesday while walking in a crosswalk on Tustin Street, police said. Anguiano Benegas of Orange was crossing near Adams Avenue about 3:15 p.m. when he was knocked down by a car driven by a 16-year-old girl traveling north, according to police. Benegas was taken to Western Medical Center--Santa Ana, where he died. The girl was not cited pending an investigation, police said.

A 77-year-old woman was killed and six others were seriously injured Wednesday when a car, swerving to avoid another motorist, plowed into a Long Beach bus bench during the early morning rush hour. All of the injured at the Santa Fe Street bus stop were elderly and apparently waiting for a nearby food bank to open, according to friends of the victims. Police investigators said a man driving a black Chevrolet Caprice swerved when a Subaru station wagon darted into his path.

Los Angeles city firefighters landed a helicopter in a dry part of the Los Angeles River on Tuesday to rescue a 77-year-old man who fell more than 10 feet down a concrete embankment in North Hollywood. Firefighters responded to the scene, near Vineland Boulevard, about 7:30 a.m. The unidentified man, who spokesman Bob Collis said "was shaken up and hurt pretty bad," was airlifted to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

An 80-year-old man was plucked from Huntington Harbour alive but suffering from exhaustion and hypothermia after he slipped and fell off a boat dock into chilly, 55-degree water, a sheriff's spokesman said Thursday. Bertram Ross of Huntington Harbour went to check on his boat about 5:20 p.m. Wednesday, when he lost his footing on a wet dock near Davenport Island and went into the water, said Deputy Steven McCormick, who rescued Ross.

A 76-year-old woman was killed by an MTA bus as she was dashing across Jefferson Boulevard to catch another bus, authorities said. The woman, identified as Mariana Oliveras, was pronounced dead at the scene, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis. The accident occurred shortly before 3 p.m., just west of Normandie Avenue. Oliveras and her son, Jaime, 39, were darting across the street when she was hit by a westbound bus. Jaime Oliveras was not injured, authorities said.

An 89-year-old Leisure World resident died after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. Bella Weiss was walking in the crosswalk at St. Andrews Street and Church Place, just inside the Leisure World entrance, Seal Beach Police Sgt. Dean Zanone said. About 4:10 p.m., she was hit by a white two-door compact car or a light-colored station wagon by a driver who might have been blinded by the afternoon sun, Zanone said.