Accidental Deaths

A motorist was killed Saturday in Porter Ranch after he lost control of his vehicle, which rolled over and crashed into a tree at the bottom of a wash, police said. The crash occurred about 5:45 a.m. in the 11600 block of Tampa Avenue, Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Norma Eisenman said. Xavier Gomez, 19, of Northridge was pronounced dead at the scene, Eisenman said. Detectives had initially focused on the possibility that the crash was caused by street racing, but they concluded that Gomez was not racing.

One man was killed and three others injured in a collision on the 57 Freeway north of Chapman Avenue on Saturday. A Toyota 4Runner and a Toyota Sequoia collided about 1 p.m. The crash was caused by an unsafe lane change, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said. There was no information late Saturday about which driver caused the crash. The victims were not identified. -- Sam Quinones

The California Highway Patrol is seeking a 27-year-old man in connection with a hit-and-run crash early Sunday on Interstate 5 in Carlsbad that left a pregnant 24-year-old Tijuana woman dead. Yina Gonzalez and her fetus were killed in the two-car crash that occurred about 1 a.m. The other car, registered to John F. Sudac Jr. of Carlsbad, stopped briefly and then left the scene, the CHP said. Sudac is being sought. The CHP is also seeking the driver of a third car who may have stopped, taken Gonzalez's purse and driven off. Gonzalez's husband, 5-year-old daughter and two other relatives were injured.

Coroner's officials have identified a hunter who apparently drowned in a frigid pond while trying to retrieve a goose he had killed. Leland Gerald Coulston, 32, of Mountain Center was hunting in the unincorporated area of Anza on New Year's Day when one of the geese he'd killed fell into the pond, according to a news release from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Coulston went into the pond to get the goose but apparently had problems and called for his wife to get help.

Eight people were killed and a ninth injured aboard a helicopter bound for offshore oil fields when it went down in a marshy area of coastal Louisiana near Houma. Petty Officer Jaclyn Young said the Coast Guard assisted Terrebonne Parish law enforcement in searching for and recovering the bodies and rescuing the survivor. No details were available on the condition of the survivor, who was taken to a hospital. The helicopter was carrying two pilots and seven passengers. It is owned by Lafayette-based PHI, which offers helicopter service to the oil and gas platforms that dot the coast of Louisiana, and flies medical helicopters.

A fast-moving house fire killed eight people, including four young brothers and their mother, despite frantic attempts to save them, authorities and a witness said. Only a few blackened fragments of walls remained standing after the white-hot fire -- possibly caused by a wood stove -- engulfed the aging two-story home in Richland, 37 miles north of Syracuse. The owner of the home and lone survivor was identified as Anthony DeRoose, 42. A neighbor said DeRoose tried so desperately to rescue the people in the house that police had to handcuff him to keep him from entering the burning structure.

Authorities continued their search Saturday for the driver of a blue Chevrolet Tahoe SUV that ran a red light and struck three people Friday, killing one man in a wheelchair, the California Highway Patrol said. The man and two women were struck by the side of the SUV as they crossed the intersection of Avalon and El Segundo boulevards about 1:50 p.m., a CHP statement said. The man in the wheelchair was pronounced dead at the scene. The two women suffered minor injuries and were taken to Centinela Hospital Medical Center for observation.

An Amtrak train carrying 400 passengers and bound for San Diego struck and killed a woman walking inside a railroad tunnel just west of the Chatsworth station Sunday, authorities said. The incident was reported just before 4 p.m. No train passengers were injured, but they were held on board for two hours and 40 minutes pending an investigation, said Amtrak spokesman Clifford Cole. Authorities said the train, Pacific Surfliner 784, originating from San Francisco, was approaching the Chatsworth station.

An intoxicated driver caused a four-car collision that killed him and another driver, the California Highway Patrol reported Sunday. Angel Sandate, 49, of Colton was driving north on Sierra Avenue north of Karen Lane about 8 p.m. Saturday when he veered toward the edge of the road. He over-corrected and spun into the southbound lane, into the path of a Kia Spectra driven by Delana Elizabeth Jones, 44, of San Bernardino, who was killed, according to the CHP. Sandate's car also struck a Ford F-150 head-on.

A mother whose car became stuck on railroad tracks was hit by a train and killed after five relatives escaped from the vehicle, authorities said Sunday. Lourdes Ruiz, 41, was driving Saturday and stalled on train tracks just north of Edison Highway on Vineland Road as a westbound train approached, according to the California Highway Patrol. Three of Ruiz's children and two nieces escaped quickly, the CHP said. But as Ruiz and her teenage son emerged from the car, the train hit Ruiz, throwing her 150 feet, according to the CHP. The train then struck Ruiz's car, causing it to spin and hit her son, who was taken to a hospital with moderate head injuries, authorities said.