Woman and 2 children killed in head-on crash on 15 Freeway in rainy San Bernardino County desert

A 43-year-old woman and two children died on Saturday, March 30, after a vehicle hydroplaned in the rain and collided head-on with another vehicle on the 15 Freeway in the San Bernardino County desert northeast of Baker, authorities said.

At about 1:40 p.m., the driver of a 2019 Kia — carrying five other people — was heading south along the freeway, amid a heavy downpour, when the vehicle began to hydroplane near Halloran Springs Road, according to the California Highway Patrol. The Kia traveled across the southbound lanes, across the median and into the northbound lanes where it collided head-on with a 2016 Mercedes SUV with four people inside.

A woman and a 13-year-old boy inside the Kia — both passengers and residents of Madera, a town near Fresno — along with an 11-year-old Los Angeles boy who was in the Mercedes were killed in the crash.

Their identities had not been released on Sunday.

Seven others were taken to hospitals, authorities said.

Anyone with additional information regarding the crash can contact Officer L. Roberson at the California Highway Patrol Barstow Office at 760-255-5900.