A woman was dead and a man arrested following a two-vehicle crash that left a SUV upside down and mostly submerged in the wetlands in Huntington Beach on Wednesday night, April 15, authorities said.
Both drivers were northbound on Pacific Coast Highway, south of Warner Avenue, when the driver of a BMW sedan rear-ended a Kia Soul about 10:40 p.m., Huntington Beach police spokeswoman Jessica Cuchilla said.
The Kia Soul was pushed off the roadway and into the wetlands, she said.
The Soul driver, a 53-year-old Long Beach woman, was taken to a hospital but died. She was not publicly identified pending notification of her relatives.
It was unclear whether the collision itself caused her death, or she drowned. The cause was under investigation.
The driver of the sedan, a 23-year-old Long Beach man, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, Cuchilla said.
Huntington Beach Fire Department lifeguards were among the first responders at the scene and helped remove the woman from the SUV, Cuchilla said.