Two killed in crash identified

The Orange County coroner’s office identified two people killed in a car accident in Huntington Beach on Monday as Robert Ruiz, 19, and Kiany Garcia, 17, both from Irvine.

The victims died after the car they were in struck a palm tree at 5:21 a.m. near Beach Boulevard and Main Street, according to Huntington Beach police.

Lt. Gary Faust said the Honda Civic, driven by Ruiz, appeared to be headed west on Ellis Avenue when it failed to make the slight left turn onto Main, striking a palm tree in front of Denny’s and splitting the car in two pieces.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene, Faust said. He added that the driver may have been going too fast to make the turn.

Kiany attended Woodbridge High in Irvine for ninth and a portion of tenth grade. She then transferred to Creekside, a continuation high school in Irvine, and attended classes until spring 2012, but did not graduate.

Ruiz was enrolled at Irvine High School during his senior year and transferred to Creekside in spring 2012, said Irvine Unified School District spokesman Ian Hanigan.

The investigation into the crash is ongoing.

In a separate incident, a Huntington Beach man died Saturday after sustaining major injuries in a two-vehicle traffic collision.

George Malouff Jr., 77, died at the scene of the accident, near Newland Street and Talbert Avenue.

Police responded around 8:45 p.m. and found that a 1999 Toyota 4Runner and a 2005 Nissan Altima had sustained a large amount of damage.

The Nissan, driven by Malouff, appeared to be heading west on Talbert when it collided with the Toyota, driven by a 51-year-old woman from Fountain Valley on northbound Newland.

The woman was transported to UCI Medical Center with moderate injuries, according to police. There were no other occupants in either car, police said. The cause of the collision is under investigation.

— Anthony Clark Carpio

Twitter: @acocarpio