Limo Fire Survivor Recalls Escape From Blaze That Killed Her 5 Friends
A survivor of a 2013 limousine fire that killed five California women has spoken out in court about the horrifying ordeal.
Amalia Loyola, 51, and Toronto airport taxi seven other friends were celebrating her friend Neriza Fojas's wedding when the group's limo caught on fire on the San Mateo Bridge on May 5, 2013.
Fojas and four other women died in the flames, which investigators said were sparked by a mechanical failure that caused the vehicle's drive shaft to rub against its undercarriage. Loyola was one of four survivors.
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This frame grab taken from a video shows the limo on fire on the San Mateo Bridge in California in 2013. A widower of one of the five victims of the fatal blaze has brought a wrongful death suit against the Ford Motor Company
Officials investigate at the scene of the deadly limo fire. Five women died, and four passengers survived
Neriza Fojas, 31, was newlywed and out to celebrate with her friends on the night her limousine caught on fire
Michelle Estrera (left), Jennifer Balon, Neriza Fojas and Anna Alcantara all perished when the limousine they were riding in caught fire on the San Mateo Bridge
Jennifer Balon, left, and Michelle Estrera, right, also died in the May 5, 2013 fire on the San Mateo Bridge in California
When Loyola first felt the car bump, she 'thought it was just part of the ride,' she told a jury in San Mateo Thursday during her testimony in a wrongful death suit against the Ford Motor Company, the reported.
A lawyer for the widower of one of the victims, who brought the wrongful death suit, alleges Ford knew there was a potential fire risk but did nothing about it, the Mercury News reported.
Loyola only realized something was wrong when black smoke started rising from the floor, she said.
Driver Orville Brown has said it took him up to 45 seconds to react to the women's screams for help
As the passenger compartment started to fill up with smoke, she crawled behind the three other survivors toward the only escape, a narrow opening to the driver's seat.
'I couldn't see my friends. I couldn't open my mouth,' Loyola said, according to the Mercury News.
Loyola was the last to escape. But before she could do so, one of the other survivors, Jasmin De Guia, got stuck in front of her.
'She got stuck on her hip,' Loyola said. If De Guia were unable to move, Loyola remembered thinking, 'I am gong to die.'
As Loyola finally squeezed through the opening head-first, her ankles were burned so severely she later required a skin graft, the Mercury News reported.
Inside the compartment, five of Loyola's friends remained trapped and would later be found dead.
Along with the newlywed Fojas, Felomina Geronga, Jennifer Balon, 39, Michelle Estrera, 35, and Anna Alcantara, 46, died inside the limo.
Investigators later found at least one of the back doors was secured with a child lock.
The limo driver, Orville Brown, has previously said that when he heard one of the passengers yelled 'smoke,' he thought she was asking if she could smoke a cigarette. It took him up to 45 seconds to react.
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The fire was ruled an accident in August 2013 and no criminal charges were filed.
The state Public Utilities Commission issued a $1,500 citation to the company that owned the limo, Limo Stop Inc., for having more passengers than seat belts. Though there were nine passengers in the back, the car was made to carry only eight.
The survivors and the families of the four victims previously reached out-of-court settlements with Accubuilt, which built the limousine out of a 1999 Lincoln Town Car, the Ford Motor Company, and Limo Stop Inc., the Mercury News reported.
In January, the Associated Press reported Accubuilt is recalling about 1,000 limousines made between 1998 and 2005, because of the fire risk associated with the rubbing drive shaft.
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