6 Injured, 2 Critically, in Long Beach Freeway Crash

Six people were injured, two critically, when a van careened out of control Tuesday and slammed into an embankment on the Long Beach Freeway in South Gate, investigators said.

Esperanza Loza Gutierrez and her husband, Luis, both 25, suffered severe head injuries when the van in which they were passengers struck two cars and spun out of control in the freeway’s southbound lanes, north of Imperial Highway, shortly after 10 a.m., said California Highway Patrolman Craig Wilson. Traffic was backed up for about an hour, he said. Another couple and their sons, ages 6 and 7, were less seriously injured, Wilson said.

The couple were described as in their 30s, but they were not further identified. A witness told the Highway Patrol that he found one of the boys in the bushes near the overturned van. The witness said the boy’s father was trying frantically to find his son in the van, unaware that the youngster had been thrown clear.