OCEANSIDE–A two-vehicle collision Tuesday afternoon in Oceanside killed three passengers and injured three others, according to the Oceanside Police Department.
The collision occurred shortly before 1 p.m. in the intersection of Coast Highway and Oceanside Boulevard.
A 2007 Toyota Tacoma truck was traveling southbound on Coast Hwy and failed to stop for a red light and collided with a 2003 Mazda sedan traveling eastbound on Oceanside Blvd. on a green light. The collision caused the Mazda to spin around violently causing two of its rear seat passengers to be ejected from the car onto the roadway. The Toyota truck stopped just south of the intersection. Emergency personnel arrived on scene within minutes and attended to the victims of the Mazda. Two of the rear seat passengers were declared dead on scene, one of the ejected passengers was transported to the hospital where she passed a short time later. All three victims were adult females. The other three victims, two males and a female, from the Mazda were transported to area hospitals with serious injuries, but are expected to survive.
The driver, identified as 19-year-old Mason Fish, was evaluated on scene by medics and released. Police officers arrested Fish for driving under the influence of a controlled substance.
The investigation is still ongoing. The names of the deceased are being withheld pending the notification of next of kin.
The Oceanside Police Department’s Major Accident Investigation Team conducted the investigation.
Anyone with information regarding the collision is asked to call Accident Investigator Paul at (760) 435-4431.