Another multi-fatal crash on I-5 in Fresno County. There were 2 others nearby in past year
There have been at least three accidents on western Fresno County highways in the past year that killed four or more passengers, including several children, according to California Highway Patrol reports.
In all three instances, vehicles carried families and multiple children on a stretch of highways from Los Banos to Coalinga.
I-5 and Derrick Avenue
Four members of a Washington family, including two children under 14, were killed with two adult family members riding in a Chrysler Aspen minivan about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday headed south on I-5 north of Derrick Avenue, according to the CHP.
For an unknown reason the van drifted into the rear end of a big rig trailer parked on the highway’s shoulder, according to CHP. The van was sheered in half.
Those killed were 43-year-old Lute Katalina Fekitoa, 25-year-old Naomi Cook, and two children — 13-year-old Keola James “KJ” Cook and 9-year-old Adimada Fekitoa, according to the Fresno County Coroner’s Office.
Three more family members suffered major injuries and included the driver 52-year-old Maikolo Fekitoa, 37-year-old Henry Cook and an 11-year-old girl, CHP said. Her name was not released.
Six killed in fiery crash
On nearly the same stretch of I-5 near Derrick Avenue, six people died Feb. 2, 2021, in a fiery crash, according to CHP.
The crash occurred shortly after 9 p.m., when a pickup carrying five people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, crossed over from northbound lanes to the southbound side, causing the collision, CHP said.
The truck caught fire as did the big rig hauling cardboard, CHP said. The coroner’s office noted it had to wait on DNA to confirm some of the identities.
Killed were Idalia Perez, 31, of Sonoma, who was also eight months pregnant, and her three children: Ixzel Colin, 10; Luis Colin, 8; and Jorge Colin-Perez, 2. Also killed was Perez’s mother-in-law, Martha Colin, 52, of Sonoma.
Highway 33 near Coalinga
Seven children who were all related died along with two adults in a head-on crash on New Year’s Day 2021, CHP has reported.
The children were all riding with one adult along a rural highway in a Ford F-150 truck that the CHP said had enough seat belts for six people.
Daniel Luna, 28, of Avenal, was driving a Dodge Journey about 8 p.m. traveling south on Highway 33, south of Sutter Avenue, about midway between Coalinga and Avenal, CHP said.
The ongoing investigation found Luna allowed the Dodge to veer into the Ford head-on, CHP said. He was killed in the crash.
Those killed in the Ford included Gabriela Pulido, 34, of Coalinga; Giada Pulido, 15; Brooke Pulido, 14; Jonah Pulido-Verdin, 11; Mia Pulido, 8; Daniella Ayala-Verdin, 11; Camilla Ayala, 8; and Anthony Verdin-Ayala, 6.
Pulido was mother of children who shared her last name, CHP said, but was also related to the others.
The coroner’s office noted it had to wait on DNA to confirm some of the identities.
