Two men were killed and two others were injured on Wednesday after a string of collisions involving a utility truck in Koreatown, officials said.
The fatal collision occurred around 3 p.m. in the 700 block of South Hobart Boulevard, after the utility truck carrying two construction workers spun out of control following a separate crash one block away, according to investigators from the Los Angeles fire and police departments.
In the second, two-car collision, a 50-year-old man was standing behind his SUV as it idled on Hobart Boulevard when the utility truck crashed into the vehicle, the fire department said.
The force of the impact propelled the car back, and the man was pinned between his SUV and a red car parked directly behind it, police said. His wife, a 50-year-old woman, was sitting as a passenger in the SUV at the time.
The man was transported to a local hospital in critical condition with a severe traumatic injury to his lower extremity, according to authorities. He later succumbed to his injuries, LAFD Capt. Thomas said.
The woman was transported in fair condition with non-life threatening injuries, authorities added.
The driver of the utility truck allegedly leaped out of his vehicle prior to impact and may have been run over by his own car, police said.
He was transported to the hospital in grave condition and pronounced dead a short time later, officials said. He has only been identified as a man in his 30s.
The truck’s passenger, a 21-year-old man, was not hurt, officials said.
The earlier collision involving the truck occurred at the intersection Harvard Boulevard and Eighth Street.
There, the truck’s driver allegedly lost control and hit a Jeep and Honda Accord, but neither of those cars’ occupants were hurt, police said. A fourth victim was evaluated at that scene and declined transportation.
An investigation was underway to determine whether a mechanical failure contributed to the accidents, police added.