Driver killed after car flies off overpass, lands on 110 Freeway

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (FOX 11/ CNS) - An 89-year-old Los Angeles woman was killed Thursday when she lost control of her car and crashed through a metal guardrail and fence on a Harbor (110) Freeway overpass in downtown Los Angeles, sending the vehicle plummeting onto the northbound freeway below.

The 2005 Cadillac landed on its roof amid traffic near Third Street, giving freeway drivers an unexpected fright, but the vehicle was not believed to have struck any vehicles when it landed, officials said.

At least two other vehicles were damaged, from striking either the crashed car or debris from the metal overpass fencing that also landed on the roadway.

It happened at 3:58 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. CHP officials said the motorist was driving north on the 110 Freeway and took the Third Street exit heading west, but she lost control while on the Third Street overpass.

The car plowed through into the metal barricade on the overpass and slammed upside-down on the northbound freeway lanes.

Los Angeles Fire Department crews had to use the "jaws of life'' to pull the woman's body from the wreckage, LAFD spokeswoman Margaret Stewart said.

No other injuries were reported.

All northbound lanes were temporarily closed at Third Street, but ultimately one lane was opened before the entire scene was cleared shortly after 8 a.m., according to the CHP.

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