Five people killed in a fiery high-speed crash Monday in Newport Beach were identified Tuesday as Irvine teenagers.
The crash Monday afternoon on Jamboree Road near the Newport Beach Country Club left charred debris on the road after the driver of an Infiniti collided with a tree in the center divider. The victims were identified early Tuesday as two boys and three girls from Irvine, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Killed were: The driver, University High School senior University High School senior Abdulrahman M. Alyahyan, 17, and passengers Nozad Al Hamawendi, 16; Cecilia D. Zamora, 17; Aurora C. Cabrera, 16; and Robin A. Cabrera, 17, all Irvine High School students.
Friends of the victims grieved at the crash site along Jamboree Road Wednesday.
Brian Rodriguez said his friend Cecilia Zamora was going to the beach with her friends when they crashed.
"She was a sweet girl," Rodriguez said of Zamora. "Always had a smile on her face."
Paloma Douglas said the young victim was "good at everything she did."
Classmates said they expect their peers' deaths to sink in Wednesday, when classes resume. Administrators promised that counselors will be on hand when students return to school.
"In any of these kind of tragedies, we make sure that the kids understand, if they're going through something, they need to let somebody know," said Terry Walker, superintendent at the Irvine Unified School District.
A spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Police Department said it appears "speed was a contributing factor" in the fatal crash.
The car was driving southbound on Jamboree Road, just north of Island Lagoon Drive, when the driver veered from the road. The car split in two after striking a tree.
Tire marks were on the road in front of the tree, which had a large section of barked removed because of the impact.
Four victims were ejected from the car. They were pronounced dead at the scene. A fifth victim, who was partially ejected, was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Drivers told NBC4 that drivers tend to speed on that stretch of road, which has a 55 mph speed limit
Jamboree Road reopened early Tuesday morning.
