2 people killed after car crashes into Huntington Beach apartment building

John Gregory Image
Friday, March 4, 2016
2 killed after car slams into Huntington Beach apartment building
Two people were killed after a car crashed into an apartment building in Huntington Beach early Friday morning.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Two people were killed after their speeding car lost control and crashed into an apartment building in Huntington Beach early Friday morning.

The crash occurred around 2:15 a.m. near the intersection of Edwards Street and Warner Avenue.

The car, a black Lexus, appeared to be going southbound down Edwards Street when the wreck happened.

Police said the car was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed when it lost control, possibly even went airborne and veered into an apartment building. The vehicle then burst into flames.

The two occupants in the car were declared dead at the scene.

The fire will complicate the investigation. While authorities know that speed was a factor, they're also investigating whether street racing was involved.

The identities of the victims were not immediately released. They were described as young men.

Witnesses at the scene said they did all they could to help.

"We heard the tires screeching and a big boom, and that's when we took off running. We went over here and seen the car in flames and people were all around, just standing there looking at them," said Matthew French, a witness.

French said he and another witness pulled the two victims out of the wreckage and one witness said she performed CPR on one of the victims. She said he still had a pulse.

"I knew one of them did not have any life in him, and I went up to the other one and he had a heartbeat and I just performed CPR," said Megan Schoenwald, another witness.

The impact from the crash and resulting fire forced residents from the impacted apartment building to evacuate. At least two units suffered damage.

Residents say they see people speeding on these streets all the time. They just never expected to see the problem literally hit so close to home and with such a tragic outcome.

The intersection of Edwards Street and Warner Avenue was shut down for most of the morning but has since reopened.