Three people in a Tesla Cybertruck couldn't be rescued after a crash in Piedmont when the vehicle became fully engulfed in flames, authorities said Friday after a preliminary investigation.
The three were killed the day before Thanksgiving when the Tesla struck a retaining wall and tree and then caught fire on Hampton Road between Sea View and King avenues at about 3 a.m.
The Alameda County Coroner's Bureau said driver Soren Dixon, 19, and passengers Jack Nelson, 20, and Krysta Tsukahara, 19, suffocated from smoke inhalation. Burns contributed to the deaths, the bureau said.
Police responding to the crash at about 3:10 a.m. were unable to extinguish the flames and rescue the three still in the truck, according to a press release Friday. A motorist who had been following the Tesla before the crash managed to rescue one person from the vehicle.
A combination of alcohol and drugs, along with unsafe speed, were contributing factors to the cause of the Nov. 27 collision, the California Highway Patrol said.
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