3 drown when car overturns in rain-swollen Carlsbad creek
Tuesday December 17, 2002By DAISY NGUYEN
Associated Press Writer
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) Three women trying to cross a storm-swollen creek drowned Tuesday when a surge of water swept their car off a narrow farm road, carrying it 100 yards downstream where it overturned.
Two other women in the car managed to climb out when it came to rest against some rocks in Agua Hedionda Creek. They were pulled to safety by firefighters, who found the bodies of the other three still inside the vehicle, said Battalion Chief Tom Dana.
The creek, normally no more than a trickle, was turned into a raging torrent by the El Nino-driven storm pounding the Western United States this week.
Authorities said the five were trying to cross by way of a narrow paved road that runs directly across the creek with only some pipes underneath to divert the water.
When the raging waters stalled their 1991 Mazda they opened the doors and tried to get out. Water rushed in and flipped the car, pushing it downstream about 100 yards, Dana said.
The two survivors huddled on the overturned vehicle until they were rescued.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victims as: Rosa Maria Marcos Santos, 40; Guillermina Hernandez Ramos, 21; and Maria Isabel Melquiades Mora, 24.
The two surviving women Maria Garcia, 29, and Lucia Gomez, 25 were treated at a hospital and released.
All were from Mexico, according to the Mexican Consulate in San Diego.
Police said they didn't know why the five were in the area
``I think they're just unfortunately victims who went through the wrong place at the wrong time,'' said police Lt. Don Rawson.
At the Medical Examiner's Office, two sisters and a cousin of the victims arrived to identify the dead. As they went into an office to view photos, their sobs and cries could be heard from the lobby.
The two survivors huddled together, then walked quickly to a waiting truck without speaking to reporters.
The road they were taking leads to a migrant farmworkers camp in the hills east of Carlsbad, a fast-growing oceanfront suburb just north of San Diego.
Tract homes are springing up in the area, which is home to fields of flowers and strawberries, as well as several nurseries. Migrant workers live in plywood sheds next to the fields where flowers are grown.
The water in normally tame Agua Hedionda Creek quickly subsided as skies cleared Tuesday afternoon, and by the end of the day vehicles could easily cross the road from which the women were swept away.
Nearby, three plastic-wrapped bouquets of daisies and sunflowers sat on a rock next to the flowing stream.
Tim Barlow, who owns a ranch next to the creek, rode a tractor collecting hay for his horses.
``I don't know why they were so determined to get to wherever they needed to be, but they should have known that conditions were dangerous,'' he said. ``They should have waited.''
Associated Press writer Michelle Morgante in San Diego contributed to this story.
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