3 Killed in Crash on Highland Avenue

[Updated] Police have identified family killed in crash. See the story here.

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A woman and her two children, ages 4 and 8, were killed Wednesday in a collision involving their minivan and an SUV that swerved into oncoming traffic on a Hollywood street, police said.

Firefighters sent to the 800 block of North Highland Avenue about 7:25 a.m. pronounced a girl dead at the scene, and took the woman and the younger girl to a hospital, along with a man in his 40s who was in the other vehicle, said Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The woman and her younger child died at the hospital, said Los Angeles police Officer Bruce Borihanh of the Media Relations office. The surviving motorist was hospitalized in critical condition, Borihanh said.

The names of the dead were not immediately released, pending notification of relatives.

According to the preliminary investigation, an Infiniti SUV was being driven northbound on Highland Avenue when the vehicle "veered into oncoming traffic" and struck a Dodge Caravan that was southbound on Highland, occupied by the woman and her two children, Borihanh said.

The Dodge Caravan then crashed into a utility pole, Borihanh said. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

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