A 45-year-old Daly City man filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this month in Los Angeles Superior Court following a horrific collision on June 28 that killed his spouse and two sons.
Six people riding in a van died in the freeway inferno that happened around 3:25 a.m. The rental van was headed south on the 5 Freeway. The Northern California family was headed to Los Angeles from San Francisco along with another San Francisco man, 34, his wife and two kids.
The younger man was behind the wheel of the van when a speeding BMW slammed into the van from the rear.
The impact spun the van around, causing it to come to rest near the roadside. A large truck failed to brake and collided with the smashed van, catching it on fire and knocking it down the embankment, as alleged in the petition.
The lawsuit further alleges that both men “attempted to extricate their families from the burning van, suffering serious burns themselves, but the vehicle was engulfed by flames. Their families screamed as they burned to death.”
Two adult women and four children were killed in the crash. According to the petition, the husband “forever will be deprived of his beloved wife and sons” due to “conscious disregard” and negligence of the defendants.
Survivors of the other family filed a related lawsuit earlier this year against the defendants, Lexmar Distribution Inc., of Pomona and the two individuals who co-owned the 2014 BMW that was alleged to have started the chain of events that claimed the six lives.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. Lexmar also filed its cross-complaint against the BMW owners in case the first lawsuit finds that the company was liable in the accident. Li’s wife and sons all died in the crash, the suit states.