One person killed after rollover crash near El Nido in Merced County, CHP says

One person is dead after a traffic crash east of EL Nido in Merced County on Sunday, according to authorities.

At about 8:21 a.m., California Highway Patrol officers responded to Sandy Mush Road east of Healy Road for a single-vehicle rollover crash.

According to Officer Eric Zuniga, a 34-year-old Chowchilla man and a 41-year-old Merced woman were traveling westbound on Sandy Mush Road in an older model Ford Mustang at an unknown rate of speed. According to the CHP, the Chowchilla man is believed to have been the driver.

For unknown reasons, the vehicle traveled off the roadway and overturned multiple times, ejecting both people who authorities believe were not wearing seat belts at the time of the collision, the CHP said.

According to Zuniga, passersby assisted in extricating the man who was pinned under the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman suffered major injuries in the collision and was transported by air ambulance to a Fresno area hospital, the CHP said.

According to the CHP, neither drugs nor alcohol appear to be a factor in the collision, which remains under investigation.

This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 11:06 AM.