Mail truck driver suffers major injuries in two-vehicle crash near Santa Nella, CHP says
A postal worker was hospitalized with major injuries following a collision in Merced County just north of Santa Nella on Sunday.
Los Banos-area officers responded to the scene of the two-vehicle collision at about 1:50 p.m. in the area of State Route 33 and Husman Road, according to a California Highway Patrol news release.
An initial investigation found Veronica Hurtado, 23, of Modesto, was driving northbound on State Route 33, south of Husman Road in an unknown model year Grumman U.S. Postal Service mail truck, the CHP said.
Narbeh Nathan, 36, of San Francisco, was traveling southbound on State Route 33 at about 45 mph before slowing to make a left turn onto eastbound Husman Road. Authorities said Nathan did not yield the right of way to the mail truck and made a left turn in front of the vehicle.
The front of the mail truck collided with the right side of the GMC. The impact caused the mail truck to become airborne before coming to rest on its right side, according to the release.
Hurtado sustained major injuries in the collision and was taken to Memorial Medical Center in Modesto.
According to the release, a female passenger inside the GMC, Gohar Azadkhanian, 72, of San Francisco, sustained moderate injuries in the collision and was transported to Memorial Medical Center. Nathan sustained minor injuries in the collision and was not transported.
According to the CHP, neither drugs nor alcohol appear to be a factor in the collision which remains under investigation.
