A woman and a young child were killed and four others were hospitalized after a violent head-on collision in Van Nuys Thursday night.
The two-car crash occurred on Woodley Avenue between Victory and Burbank boulevards around 9 p.m.
Investigators believe a white 2014 Honda Accord was traveling north on Woodley Avenue and for unknown reasons went into the southbound lanes where it collided head-on with a gray 2020 Honda Civic.
A woman in her 60s who was in the back seat of the Civic was pronounced dead at the scene, Los Angeles Police Department officials confirmed.
A child who was in a car seat was transported in critical condition but was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Police identified him as 5-year-old Yeshua Cordova Tobar of Los Angeles.
The remaining occupants, a man in his 30s and a 27-year-old woman, were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
Two people in the Accord were also hospitalized. The driver, a man in his 30s, is in critical condition, while the passenger, a woman in her 30s, sustained moderate injuries, police said.
Authorities have not given any further details about what may have led to the crash.
”We’re trying to piece exactly what happened,” LAPD spokesperson Leticia Ruiz said at the scene.
Woodley Avenue reopened between Victory and Burbank boulevards around 4:30 a.m. Friday.
Luis Zuniga contributed to this report.