By Ruben Vives and Robert J. Lopez
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — A Fire Department ambulance was involved in an accident on a surface street near the rain-soaked 101 Freeway early Saturday while taking a crash victim to a hospital.
The accident involved another vehicle and occurred at 1:26 a.m. on a surface street near the Alameda Street ramp downtown, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Cecil Manresa.
No information on the cause of the accident was available.
The two paramedics and the female patient in the ambulance were not injured in the accident, Manresa said.
The ambulance was one of several rescue units that had responded to a car crash on the southbound 101 Freeway that injured four Long Beach residents, one of them critically, the California Highway Patrol said.
The CHP said the car’s driver, a 33-year-old man, was under the influence of alcohol and nonprescription drugs when he slammed his Infiniti into a guardrail at 60 mph.
The car landed on its roof, striking a large metal signpost on the right shoulder of the freeway.
The driver got out through a window and a male passenger crawled out of the car, but the two female passengers had to be pulled out by firefighters, the CHP said.
One of the women, 26, had major injuries to her head and was listed in extremely critical condition.
The other woman, 27, had moderate injuries to her neck and back, according to the CHP.
The male passenger, 27, was listed in moderate condition.