Two killed in Highway 152 crash near Santa Nella

SANTA NELLA -- Two women died early Monday when a wrong-way SUV hit the truck in which they were riding on Highway 152 near Santa Nella.

Officers arrested the driver of the sport utility vehicle on a charge of driving under the influence.

According to California Highway Patrol officer Matt Pinheiro, the accident happened just after 1 a.m. Ali Farsad was driving a Ford Explorer west in the eastbound fast lane of Highway 152 just west of Highway 33 when the SUV collided head-on with a Ford F-150 pickup heading east.

Farsad, 68, of San Jose suffered minor injuries. Four people were in the pickup; the passengers names and hometowns were not available. The driver, Manual Herrera, 23, of San Jose, suffered minor injuries. A passenger in the truck suffered major injuries.

Two other passengers died; a 30-year-old woman, whose name was not released by the CHP, was pronounced dead at the scene, and a second woman was taken by helicopter to a Modesto hospital, where she died.