Crash kills 5 members of Calif. family

RENO, Nev. -- Five members of a Southern California family were killed in southern Nevada when their van was rear-ended by an 18-year-old driver who was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, authorities said.

The Clark County coroner's office identified them yesterday as Genaro Fernandez, 41, of Norwalk, Calif.; Raudel Fernandez-Avila, 49, and Belen Fernandez, 53, both of Lynwood, Calif.; and Angela Sandoval, 13, and Leonardo Fernandez-Avila, 45, both of Los Angeles.

The dead were among seven family members in the van, authorities said. The 40-year-old female driver and a 15-year-old boy were hospitalized in critical condition.

Jean Soriano of California was booked into the Clark County Detention Center after he was treated at University Medical Center in Las Vegas and released, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Loy Hixson said.

The crash happened about 3 a.m. Saturday on Interstate 15 near the Utah line. Soriano's sport utility vehicle struck the van from behind, causing both vehicles to spin out of control and roll near Mesquite, some 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, investigators said.

A 23-year-old passenger in Soriano's SUV was treated at the hospital and released.

Authorities believe Soriano was returning from a visit with family in Utah to his home in California, Hixson said.

Beer bottles were found in the SUV, Hixson said, and troopers performed a blood-alcohol test on Soriano at the hospital. The results won't be known for a couple of weeks, he said.

Hixson said only two of the seven people in the van were wearing seat belts. The five who were not buckled in were ejected, but one survived.