1 Youth Killed, 4 Injured as Truck Overturns

A 16-year-old girl was killed and four teen-agers were seriously injured Friday morning when the pickup truck they were in overturned.

Claudia Madrid of San Diego was riding in the bed of the truck, which was traveling north on 38th Street and overturned when the driver tried to turn left onto Florence Street at about 10:45 a.m., a San Diego Fire Department spokeswoman said.

Madrid, a student at San Diego High School, died at the scene, the spokeswoman said.

Police reported that the unidentified driver of the pickup had been drinking, but it was not determined Friday whether he was legally intoxicated. The driver was traveling too fast to negotiate the turn, a police spokesman said, but he did not know whether a citation was issued.

Firefighters used the “jaws of life” to free the cab passenger and the driver, whose legs were pinned inside the truck.

Maria Arreola, 15, was in fair condition Friday night with a broken right leg at UC San Diego Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. Olga Romo, 16, was also in fair condition with injured legs.

A 19-year-old man is in serious condition with deep facial cuts and lacerations at Mercy Hospital, and a female is in good condition with minor cuts and bruises, hospital spokesman Michael Scahill said. Their names have not been released.