Victims of Tuesday's Highway 65 crash ID'd

A woman who sustained minor injuries after the car she was driving was struck by a pickup truck Tuesday evening, has been identified as 19-year-old Maria G. Ramirez Ortega of Porterville.

The crash happened at about 6:30 p.m. on Highway 65 at Linda Vista Avenue. The California Highway Patrol reports that the driver of the pickup, 68-year-old Jose Gonzales of Porterville, was northbound on Highway 65, and was making a left turn onto Linda Vista Avenue when he drove in front of Ortega’s sedan, which was traveling southbound on the highway at about 65 mph.

As a result of the collision, the sedan was thrust off the road and into a barbed-wire fence on the west side of the highway. The pickup truck came to rest in the middle of the highway, temporarily blocking southbound and westbound traffic.

Ortega’s only passenger, identified by the CHP as 24-year-old Maria E. Ramirez Ortega of Porterville, was not injured and neither was Gonzales. The 19-year-old driver was taken to Sierra View District Hospital via ambulance for complaint of pain to the left side of her head, the CHP said.