Just days after Public Works crews closed all westbound lanes on Spring Street near the airport to repair tunnel damage caused by a hit-and-run accident, the same stretch of road has become the site of a traffic fatality after a male driver struck a tree in the center median and his vehicle burst into flames.
At about 1:25AM on Sunday, officers were called to the area of Spring Street between Lakewood Blvd. and the airport underpass with reports of a traffic collision. According to Lisa Massacani of the Long Beach Police Department, by the time police arrived, the 2011 Hyundai Sonata was already engulfed in flames.
Though the driver of the vehicle was still inside, neither witnesses or officers were able to rescue the driver because of the fire. Long Beach Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire, but the driver of the vehicle was found to be deceased at the scene.
It appears that the Hyundai was traveling eastbound on Spring St. towards Lakewood Blvd. when the driver lost control while exiting the tunnel, drove up onto the center median and collided with a tree. The vehicle caught fire immediately upon impact.
The driver is only being identified as an adult male pending notification of his family. No word on whether drugs or alcohol were a factor.
“No one else was in the car,” Massacani said. “No other vehicle was involved. The investigation is ongoing.”