A group of friends killed in a California crash are said to have been flung out of the car without seatbelts.
A mountain community in southern California is grieving the deaths of four young friends, who died after their car crashed near the Angeles National Forest.
The victims killed at the scene have been named as 21-year-old Rebeka Citlali Cabral Gonzalez, Jason Potter and Cole Torres, both 19, and Nevaeh Harper, 20.
Two other young people were injured in the smash, which happened in the early hours of Friday morning between Big Pines and Wrightwood, San Bernardino County.
They were travelling in a black 2016 Hyundai Veloster when the tragedy struck.
Initial findings by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) suggest that none of the six wore a seatbelt, and that alcohol was involved.
Five of the car occupants were ejected from the car after it veered off the Angeles Crest 2 Highway, overturned and plunged down an embankment before colliding with a power pole, according to the authorities.
Thaniel Ong, the CHP spokesperson, said: ‘It is believed at this time that alcohol is a factor in the crash, and that seat belts were not in use at the time.’
Fundraisers have been launched to help cover funeral costs and support for the families from Wrightwood, a small mountain town 77 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
A GoFundMe for Rebeka Citlali Cabral Gonzalez described the 21-year-old as a ‘bright light, a free spirit with an incredible zest for life, a kind heart, and a genuine love for the outdoors.’
A family friend said the young Wrightwood local was ‘unselfish with her time and gave far more than she ever expected to receive.’
She had an ‘extraordinary bond’ with her twin sister, whom she shared a ‘deep and unique’ connection only twins can understand.
Her GoFundMe had raised over $13,000 (£9,600) out of its $20,000 target within days.
A fundraiser to help Jason Potter’s family said he was an ‘incredibly talented snowboarder who had a way of bringing so much life and energy into every space he entered.’
A friend said: ‘There simply are no words for a loss like this. What the Potter family is facing is unfathomable, and no family should ever have to endure the heartbreak of losing their child or sibling.
‘Right now, they are navigating a pain that is impossible to put into words, while trying to process the sudden absence of someone who meant so much to so many.
‘Our community is feeling this heaviness alongside them. Jason touched more lives than he probably ever realised, and the love surrounding his family is a reflection of just how special he was.’
Nevaeh Harper was described as a ‘beautiful daughter,’ whose death has ‘touched the lives of hundreds of people who knew and loved her’ on a fundraiser page set up to support her family with costs and counselling.
It said: ‘She will be missed immensely. So many of us would trade anything to feel her love again.
‘She inspired the people around her through her liveliness, and the impact she made on others is clear in the many lives this loss has shaken.
Cole Torres’s death, along with his three best friends, has ‘shaken’ her mum and the mountain community, a GoFundMe set up by a family friend said.
The young man had recently learned he was going to be an uncle to a baby girl, which ‘makes this loss feel even more devastating for everyone who loved him.’
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