A photo of a Tesla Cybertruck crashed at Hampton Road and King Avenue in Piedmont, Calif. Photo:
KRON 4/Youtube
Three recent high school graduates have died and one is seriously injured following a Tesla Cybertruck crash near Oakland, Calif., the day before Thanksgiving.
On Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 3:08 a.m. local time, the Piedmont Police Department responded after receiving an alert from an iPhone regarding a collision, police chief Jeremy Bowers confirmed in a news conference shared on Facebook.
The officer confirmed three people had died in the incident, which occurred at Hampton Road and King Avenue, after police arrived to find the vehicle “fully engulfed in flames.”
Bowers said one person was seriously injured following the crash and had been taken to hospital. The officer also confirmed they’d arrived at the scene to find an “uninvolved party pulling one of the occupants from the vehicle.” He said it’s “possible” the people were “at a function together prior.”
Bowers didn’t confirm the victims’ names or ages. He also didn’t confirm the model of the car in the conference. According to ABC7 News, KRON and KTVU, all four people involved in the crash were 2023 graduates of Piedmont High School, while they reported the vehicle involved in the crash was a Cybertruck.
A photo of a Piedmont Police Department car.
Piedmont Police Department Facebook
ABC7 News added that the victims were sophomores in college and a mother close to the families of the victims stated that two men and one woman had died in the crash. A woman who knew the victims told KRON they were home from college for the holidays when the crash occured.
In the conference, Bowers said they are investigating whether alcohol or drugs played a factor in the crash.
“Speed is likely a contributing factor in this collision,” he added. Bowers also said that police could not initially put the “intense” flames out, but the fire department quickly got the fire under control upon arrival.
“There’s no indication that there were mechanical effects that were the primary cause for the collision,” Bowers said, adding that the cause of the crash is under investigation.
A stock photo of a Tesla Cybertruck.
Getty
Sandy Martin, who reportedly taught the victims in middle school, told ABC7 News, “They are smart kids, they are good kids. They are also … kids who were very supportive of their friends.”
“This shouldn’t happen to any kids. But when you know them, it makes it worse,” Martin added.
The outlet, citing police, reported that the vehicle “jumped the curb, struck a cement wall, and then wedged in between the wall and a tree.”
“This is just a tragic loss of life,” Bowers said, per KTVU. “We don’t know the cause of the collision and during the holiday season, our hearts go out to the families that are going to have to deal with this tragedy.”
“We are just [devastated]. I know the family whose son is in the hospital right now. I know the other families,” neighbor Aileen Desoto said, per ABC7 News.
“I know he has surgery. He is in recovery. He had some burns. He is under sedation. So, we are hoping he recovers,” Desoto added, according to the outlet.
