Two people were killed Sunday in a head-on collision involving two motorcycles on a windy stretch of the Ortega Highway.
The crash occurred when an eastbound motorcyclist took a curve at excessive speeds, crossed a double-yellow line and struck a westbound motorcyclist.
The crash was reported at 10:30 a.m. on State Route 74 just west of the Ortega Oaks Candy Store, according to April Newman of the Riverside County Fire Department.
When they arrived at the location, first responders attempted life- saving procedures on two people who were down and unconscious, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene, Newman said.
The eastbound rider was identified only as a La Habra man, and the westbbound rider as a Buena Park man.
Family members of one of the victims arrived at the crash site and requested a chaplain, according to a CHP incident log.
The CHP closed both lanes of State Route 74 at the crash scene until 1 p.m., and closed access to the westbound route at Grand Avenue in Lake Elsinore. Eastbound traffic was blocked at Nichols Institute Road in Rancho Santa Margarita, while the investigation was conducted.
Ortega Highway, which winds through the Santa Ana Mountains, is known for a higher-than-usual incidence of deadly motorcycle crashes.
On Aug. 20, a 22-year-old San Clemente man was killed on the highway in a head-on crash when he crossed into the wrong side of the roadway while speeding and was hit by an SUV, according to the CHP.
–City News Service