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DSA In the News

One dead in rural crash

Published on 5/27/2011


A Newark man was killed in a crash near La Honda late Thursday morning that involved workers who were performing weed abatement for a local open space district, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

The crash was reported at 11:22 a.m. in the vicinity of Alpine and Mindego Hill roads, in a rural area of San Mateo County near the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve.

It appears the vehicle involved was being driven in an area without a paved road and somehow went out of control and tumbled into a canyon, according to the CHP.

The CHP reported earlier Thursday that three people had died, but CHP Sgt. Matt Otterby said there was only one confirmed fatality.

The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Luis Audelo-Partida, 26.

Two other people suffered major injuries and were airlifted to hospitals, Otterby said. 

Three people suffered minor injuries and one person was uninjured, CHP Officer Kevin Bartlett said.

Rescue crews had trouble reaching the crash site, which is only accessible by foot and horseback, he said. 

“We’re going in slow motion because it’s so hard to get to everyone,” Bartlett said.

Three medical helicopters were dispatched to the area, he said.

The people who were in the vehicle that crashed are contractors who were out spraying non-native plants for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, district spokesman Gordon Baillie said. 

Baillie said he did not yet have much information on the crash.

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, the San Mateo County Fire Department and other agencies responded to the crash.